Mega Millions jackpot soars to $1.1 billion after 24 drawings with no winner
The Mega Millions jackpot stood at more than $1.1 billion Saturday after no lucky jackpot winner matched all six numbers in Friday night’s drawing, lottery officials said.
There have been no jackpot winners for more than two months — 24 consecutive drawings. Friday’s winning combination was 3, 20, 46, 59, 63, plus the Mega Ball 13.
“Mega Millions has just reached the $1 billion mark again,” Pat McDonald, the head of the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement Saturday. “It’s especially nice to see the jackpot grow throughout the holidays and into the new year,” he added.
The next drawing will take place in Atlanta Tuesday night.
A winner can choose to receive the full prize amount in an annuity paid over 29 years. Those who prefer to take home a cash option — which is often the choice for grand prize winners — will receive an estimated $568.7 million.
Tuesday’s jackpot is shaping up to be the third-largest prize in the lottery’s 20-year-history, behind a $1.54 billion jackpot won by a single ticket in South Carolina in October 2018, and a $1.34 billion winning ticket sold in Illinois last July.
The winner of the largest-ever U.S. lottery prize was a Powerball player in California who won $2.04 billion in November.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, as well as the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 303 million.
———
