Mega Millions jackpot grows to $640 million for last 2022 drawing
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The Dec. 27 Mega Millions drawing has a $565 million jackpot. Photo: Ringo Chiu/AFP via Getty Images
The Mega Millions jackpot grew to $640 million for the lottery's last drawing of the year on Friday after nobody won the grand prize Tuesday.
Driving the news: The Dec. 30 drawing is estimated to be the sixth largest in the lottery's 20-year history if there’s a winner and the prize stops growing, according to Mega Millions.
- The cash option for the drawing is now worth approximately $328.3 million, the lottery website said.
- The jackpot is just behind the fifth-largest prize of $648 million, which was won in 2013.
What they're saying: "It's by far the largest Mega Millions prize ever offered in the final week of any year," the lottery said in a statement.
Flashback: The jackpot has been rolling since the Oct. 18 Mega Millions drawing that started with a $20 million grand prize.
- In late July, a ticket sold in Illinois was the sole winner of the year's largest Mega Millions jackpot of $1.34 billion, the game's second-largest prize ever.
- The world's largest-ever lottery prize was won in November when one ticket won Powerball's $2.04 billion jackpot.
Winning Mega Millions numbers
The winning numbers in Tuesday's drawing are 9, 13, 36, 59 and 61 with the Mega Ball 11.
Next Mega Millions drawing
Mega Millions drawings are held in Atlanta at 11pm ET Tuesdays and Fridays, which is 8pm PT.
- The drawings are posted on the Mega Millions YouTube page.
How it works: Two machines pick the numbers in the drawings with the first picking five white balls and the other selecting a gold "Mega Ball."
Did anybody win Mega Millions Tuesday?
The intrigue: No ticket matched all five numbers and the Mega Ball from Tuesday's drawing.
Mega Millions odds
The odds of winning the grand-prize jackpot are about 1 in 303 million per ticket.
- Other odds vary by prize and range from 1 in 37 for matching the Mega Ball to 1 in 12.6 million for matching five balls without the Mega Ball.
By the numbers: There have been only six Mega Million jackpot winners so far in 2022.
- Since 2017, the number of jackpots won yearly has ranged from five to seven.
Mega Millions ticket cost
The price for a Mega Millions ticket is $2, but players in most states can "add the Megaplier for an additional $1 to multiply their non-jackpot prizes."
Context: Out of each $2 ticket, roughly 35 cents goes to non-jackpot prizes, about 75 cents goes to fund the jackpot, and the remaining 90 cents goes to the government.
Mega Millions payout: Jackpot and other prizes
Here are the prize amounts for matching numbers with and without the gold Mega Ball:
- Mega Ball: $2
- One number and Mega Ball: $4
- Two numbers and Mega Ball: $10
- Three numbers: $10
- Three numbers and Mega Ball: $200
- Four numbers: $500
- Four numbers and Mega Ball: $10,000
- Five numbers: $1 million
- Five numbers and Mega Ball: Jackpot
Between the lines: Amounts for non-jackpot prizes are higher for players spending $1 extra for the optional Megaplier.
How do you play Mega Millions
Lottery players pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers — five different numbers from 1 to 70 (the white balls) and one number from 1 to 25 (the gold Mega Ball).
- "Quick Pick" or "Easy Pick" tickets can also be purchased where numbers are selected automatically.
States selling Mega Millions lottery tickets
Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with drawings held each Tuesday and Friday.
- Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah do not participate in the lottery.
Cut-off time to buy Mega Millions tickets
The time to purchase tickets varies by state because Mega Millions tickets are sold by individual lotteries.
- Sales stop 15 minutes before the drawing in many states, including New York, Michigan, Virginia and Ohio, while Indiana sales on drawing dates cut off at 10:44pm ET.
- Lotteries in Florida and South Carolina end ticket sales an hour before the drawing, with Idaho ending the night's drawing sales an hour and five minutes prior.
Mega Millions tickets online
Mega Millions tickets are available to buy online in 10 states and Washington, D.C.
- New York also has a subscription to purchase tickets online.
- Other states with online sales are Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
- In most cases, you need to live in one of these states to buy an online ticket, but in "all cases you must be physically within their borders when you make any online ticket purchases," the Mega Millions website says.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with the winning numbers and more information throughout.
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