The Mega Millions Jackpot is set to reach an estimated $940 million after no one won the top prize on Tuesday.
Six numbers were pulled, but there was no ticket that corresponded to all of the figures in order to win the funds. The numbers drawn included white balls of 25, 29, 33, 41, and 44. The gold Mega Ball was pulled as 18.
Still, Tuesday saw over 2.9 million successful tickets with the winning amounts coming in at wide ranges. The tickets resulted in just $2 of a win or people won $4 million. Six tickets were successful in the $4 million winnings, which is the second-place prize of the lottery. Three of them were sold in Mississippi, Arizona, and South Dakota. Maryland, Texas, and Virginia were the states where three tickets were sold that secured the $1 million winnings.
“We are thrilled to see such a big win in Mississippi,” Mississippi Lottery Corporation President Jeff Hewitt said. “Last week, we had a $1 million Mega Millions winner from Moss Point. The winner from the drawing last night is the largest amount won since the Mississippi Lottery began in November of 2019. Spending the extra dollar for the Megaplier option really paid off for this player, quadrupling their $1 million win to $4 million.”
The three tickets that got the $4 million prize did so because they had the “optional Megaplier,” according to the lottery, “which was 4X on Tuesday night.”
Those who have purchased the lottery tickets will have to wait until Friday to see what numbers are drawn next, where the lottery says the number will get up to $940 million. People typically take the cashout option, which the group announced will be around $483.5 million.
Since the lottery started in 2002, Mega Millions noted in a news release, there have only been three jackpots that have more money than Friday’s estimated winnings.
“The Mega Millions record remains $1.537 billion, won by a single ticket in South Carolina on October 23, 2018. Two years ago, a $1.05 billion prize was won in Michigan on January 22, 2021, and there was that big $1.337 billion jackpot won in Illinois last July,” the group said.
Already, 23 drawings have taken place, but no one has gotten the mega winnings.
The likelihood of winning the top Mega Millions jackpot is one in around 302 million. For those who win, however, it’s not always an easy process.
“Understand that this might be a wonderful event, but people are caught off guard by how stressful it is,” Susan Bradley, a certified financial planner and founder of the Sudden Money Institute, said, per CNBC, in October.