Mega Millions jackpot jumps to $1.1 billion -- third largest drawing ever in lotto history

ATLANTA — The Mega Millions jackpot has now risen to $1.1 billion, making it the second largest jackpot in the game’s history and third largest lotto jackpot ever in the United States.

If you were to win and take the cash option, you would walk away with $648.2 million.

The prize pot hasn’t been this high since it was $1.05 billion on January 22, 2021, when an Oakland, California lottery club collectively took home the money.

Since April 15, there have been 29 consecutive drawings without a winner.

Four Mega Millions jackpots have been won so far this year. In addition to the most recent Tennessee win at $20 million on April 15, jackpots were won in California ($426 million on January 28), New York ($128 million on March 8) and Minnesota ($110 million on April 12; that state’s very first Mega Millions jackpot win).

Here are some interesting facts about Mega Millions:

• The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 302,575,350 to 1. You have better odds of a smaller payoff, such as winning $1 million for matching five regular numbers but missing the Mega Ball. But even those odds are 1 in 12.6 million.
• Six Mega Millions jackpots have been won on Friday the 13th.
• There was a jackpot winner in the very first Mega Millions drawing. The drawing on May 17, 2002, resulted in a $28 million winning ticket in Illinois.
• Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The game is overseen by state lottery officials.

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Mega Millions jackpot hits $1 billion after months without a winner No one has won the jackpot since the middle of April.

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