Tag: Mega Millions

Winning ticket in $1 billion jackpot sold in L.A.

Mega Millions has upped the ante by another $100 million.

The winning numbers for the $720 million Mega Millions jackpot were revealed Friday night. The numbers were 29, 40, 47, 50 and 57 and a Mega Ball of 25.

But the lack of a jackpot winner in the lottery game’s latest drawing on Friday night sent the top prize soaring to an estimated $820 million for the next drawing, which will be held on Tuesday. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Tuesdays drawing is an estimated $422 million.

The potential jackpot is the fifth largest in the history of the game, Mega Millions said in a statement early Saturday.

There was no immediate word on whether any winning jackpot tickets had been sold.  

The jackpot climbed after there were no winners in Tuesday’s $640 million drawing. There have been no Mega Millions jackpot winners since April 18.

Friday’s jackpot meanwhile marks the fifth-largest in Mega Millions history. A potential winner would have the choice of taking an estimated lump sum payment of $370.5 million before taxes, or the going with the annuity option, which consists of an immediate payment, followed by 29 annual payments. 

Friday’s drawing resulted in eight tickets matching five white balls for a $1 million prize. Two each were sold in Florida, New Jersey and North Carolina, with one in California and another in Michigan, Mega Millions said.

There have been four Mega Millions jackpots north of $1 billion, with the largest being a $1.537 billion jackpot in October of 2018, with a single winning ticket sold in South Carolina.

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are about one in 302.58 million. 

There was one winning ticket sold for Wednesday night’s estimated $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot, lottery officials said.

It was purchased at the Las Palmitas Mini Market in downtown Los Angeles, CBS News Los Angeles reports.

The winning numbers were 7, 10, 11, 13 and 24, with a Powerball of 24.

The ticket holder or holders will get to pick either a lump sum payment of $558.1 million or an annuity for the $1.08 billion. Both figures are before taxes.

Late ticket sales propelled the jackpot past its earlier estimate of $1 billion.

The drawing had more than 4.8 million winning tickets overall and lower-tier cash prizes worth $85.1 million.

It was the second time in eight months that a $1 billion Powerball ticket was sold in Los Angeles County, CBS News Los Angeles points out. In November, a lucky man at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena correctly guessed the numbers accompanying the world-record Powerball jackpot of $2.04 billion.

The jackpot had been swelling since April 19, when a ticket bought in Ohio won a $252.6 million jackpot. Before Wednesday night’s drawing, no one had matched the five white balls and red Powerball in the past 38 chances to win.

The $1.08 billion grand prize is the third largest in the game’s history since it started in 1992. Last year, a single ticket sold in California won the $2.04 billion world record jackpot, and the game’s second-largest grand prize of $1.586 billion was split among winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.

Earlier this year, a ticket sold in Washington state won a $754.6 million jackpot, the game’s sixth largest.

Wednesday night’s pot of gold was the sixth largest in U.S lottery history.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

In Mega Millions, an estimated $720 million jackpot is up for grabs Friday night after no one matched all six numbers in Tuesday night’s drawing. Those winning numbers were 19, 22, 31, 37, 54 with a Mega Ball of 18.

If someone wins Friday night, the cash option would be an estimated $369.6 million. The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.

The two jumbo-sized jackpots spurred some people to pool their money and buy tickets by the dozen in the hopes of winning big.

In Southern California, a woman bought 50 lottery tickets on Tuesday at a 7-Eleven for her and her co-workers, CBS News Los Angeles reported.

“I already told them today: If I win tonight, I’m not even coming in, for sure, they know,” the woman told the station. “My boss is in on this with me.”

Powerball tickets cost $2 each and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.