Mega Millions jackpot hits $785 million. What to know about the next drawing
Update: Winning Mega Millions ticket for $4 million bought in Arizona. Jackpot hits $940 million
Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing could help ring in the new year for someone in a million-dollar way as the game's fourth-largest jackpot hangs in the balance at $785 million.
Even with the jackpot still rolling, nearly 2.7 million winning tickets were produced in last Friday's drawing. Out of all of them, only one ticket purchased in Ohio was able to claim the game's $1 million second-tier prize.
Because no one was able to match all six winning numbers Friday night to claim its $640 million jackpot, the pot has now snowballed to $785 million, with a $395 million cash option.
One lucky person who bought a Mega Millions ticket in Tonopah became the winner of a $4 million prize after Tuesday's drawing.
Only three other times has the Mega Millions jackpot eclipsed $700 million, each of which saw it balloon to over $1 billion, according to the Mega Millions website. July of 2022 saw the most recent billion-dollar winner when a ticket in Illinois claimed the $1.337 billion prize.
How can I watch the Mega Millions drawing?
The drawing will be held Tuesday, Jan. 3, at 11 p.m. EST (9 p.m. in Arizona). Drawings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays.
It can be streamed at MegaMillions.com.
How do you play Mega Millions?
Tickets can be purchased at a number of participating convivence stores, gas stations and grocery stores for $2 apiece. When purchasing your ticket, you'll have the option to pick six numbers or have them generated for you. Whatever the choice, the first five white numbers will be numbered between one and 70. These numbers can not repeat. The sixth number, the gold mega ball, will be numbered between one and 25.
To win the pot, you'll need to have a ticket that matches all six numbers. The odds of winning the jackpot is a 1 in 302.6 million shot, according to the Mega Millions website.
The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24, according to the Mega Millions website.
How to get paid if you win Mega Millions
Winners have two choices: Get paid the full winnings over 30 years or a one-time smaller lump sum in cash.
30 Years: Winners can receive "one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments. Each payment is 5% bigger than the previous one," the Mega Millions website says.
Lump-sum: "A one-time, lump-sum payment that is equal to all the cash in the Mega Millions jackpot prize pool," the Mega Millions website says.
What were the biggest Mega Millions winners?
With Tuesday's jackpot cracking the top four prizes in the history of the game, players can cement themselves among an elite group of Mega Millions winners.
The previous top three wins:
$1.537 billion in October 2018 in South Carolina
$1.337 billion in July 2022 in Illinois
$1.05 billion in January 2021 in Michigan
The last known jackpot winner in Arizona was in October 2021. A family in Lake Havasu City won a $108 million jackpot. In 2020, a Glendale couple won a $414 million jackpot.
Friday's winning numbers
The winning numbers in Friday's drawing were 1, 3, 6, 44 and 51. The gold mega ball number was 7.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mega Millions jackpot hits $785M. When is the next drawing?
