Lottery Mega Millions Powerball Jackpot 10 biggest won in US lottery history

Mega Millions is an American multijurisdictional lottery game, it is offered in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The first Mega Millions drawing was in 2002. What is now Mega Millions initially was offered in six states, the logo for all versions of the game following the retirement of The Big Game name featured a gold-colored ball with six stars to represent the game’s initial membership, although some lotteries insert their respective logos in the ball. Mega Millions is drawn at 11 pm Eastern time on Tuesday and Friday evenings, including holidays. Mega Millions is administered by a consortium of its 12 original lotteries.

Lottery Mega Millions Powerball Jackpot

Reflecting common practice among American lotteries, the jackpot is advertised as a nominal value of annual installments. A cash-value option (the usual choice), when chosen by a jackpot winner, pays the approximate present value of the installments. Mega Millions’ previous format began on October 19, 2013; its first drawing was three days later. In the current version of Mega Millions, five white balls are drawn from a pool of 70, and one gold-colored “MegaBall” is drawn from a separate pool of 25; a player must match all six numbers to win the jackpot. Each game costs $2. Of the 47 Mega Millions jurisdictions, all but California offer an option, called “Megaplier” (plays with the Mega plier are $3 each) where nonjackpot prizes are multiplied by 2, 3, 4, or 5.  in 1992 Powerball became the first game to use two drums. Using two drums to draw numbers from offers more manipulation by simultaneously allowing low jackpot odds, numerous prize levels, and high overall odds of winning (as explained later, a ticket can win by matching only one number).

As the Powerball jackpot hit $1 billion after no winning ticket was sold for the latest drawing, Lottery fever strikes again. The new jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing would be the third largest for Powerball and the seventh highest in U.S. history. Take a look at the 10 largest U.S. jackpots that have been won and the states where the winning tickets were sold:

1. $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, and Tennessee)
2. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California)
3. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Maine)
4. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
5. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
6. $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)
7. $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
8. $754.6 million, Powerball, Feb. 6, 2023 (one ticket, from Washington state)
9.  $758.7 million, Powerball, Aug. 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)
10. $731.1 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021 (one ticket, from Maryland)