An estimated $1.1 billion is up for grabs during Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing, as the game has gone more than three months without a jackpot winner.
To take home the jackpot, players must match all five white balls plus the yellow Mega Ball. Smaller prizes, as low as $2, are available for matching some, but not all, of the drawn numbers. The odds of winning a Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24, but the odds of hitting the jackpot are just 1 in 302,575,350.
The estimated jackpot is the eighth largest in U.S. lottery history and the fifth largest ever for Mega Millions. The biggest Mega Millions jackpot ever, $1.602 billion, was won on Aug. 8 of last year, when a single winning ticket was sold in Florida. The largest prize in U.S. lottery history, a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot, was won in California in February of 2023.
Jackpot winners have the option of taking a lump sum cash payment or having the winnings dolled out over the course of 30 years in annual installments. Only winners who take the annuity option receive the full jackpot total. The estimated lump sum payment for Tuesday night's drawing is $537.5 million before taxes.
The Mega Millions game holds its drawings on Tuesday and Friday nights, while Powerball holds its drawings on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights. As of Tuesday night, Powerball had an estimated jackpot of $865 million and has yet to see a jackpot winner.
You can purchase Mega Millions tickets in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A standard ticket costs $2, with the option to add bonuses for additional fees to increase the payout for non-jackpot prizes.
