The long stretch without a Mega Millions jackpot winner is because of the game’s steep odds of 1 in 302.6 million.
Lottery
The new jackpot drawing on Friday night will be another milestone in the game, Mega Millions said in a statement early Wednesday.
If someone wins Tuesday’s jackpot, it would be the third-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history, the lottery announced in a news release.
The prize is now the third-largest in U.S. history.
The new jackpot will remain the sixth-largest jackpot in U.S. history.
The jackpot is the largest since someone in California won a record $2.04 billion Powerball prize on Nov. 8. There still has not been an announced winner of that jackpot.
No one won the lottery game’s top prize Tuesday night, making it 21 straight drawings without anyone matching all six numbers. The next drawing will be Friday night.
The $2.04 billion prize is for a winner who chooses an annuity, paid annually over 29 years. Nearly all winners instead opt for cash, which was valued at $997.6 million. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
A drawing will be held Saturday night for the Powerball prize, which hasn’t been won in more than three months. That string of 39 consecutive drawings without a winner is a reflection of the tough odds of winning a jackpot, at 1 in 292.2 million.
The Illinois Lottery said the prize for the July 29 drawing, which was the nation’s third-largest lottery prize, was claimed by two individuals who had agreed to split the prize if they won. They opted to take a lump sum payment of $780.5 million, lottery officials said Wednesday.
“We are thrilled to have witnessed one of the biggest jackpot wins in Mega Millions history,” Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald, currently serving as Lead Director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement on the lottery’s website. “We’re eager to find out who won and look forward to congratulating the winner soon!”
Your chance of winning the grand prize is minuscule, at one in 302.5 million. 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 that is one in 12.6 million.
