It’s another night of disappointment for lottery players, as the Mega Millions drawing yielded no big winners yet again. The estimated jackpot of $940 million remains unclaimed, and will now grow to an estimated $1.1 billion for the next drawing on Tuesday.
This prize is the third-largest in US history. The numbers drawn on Friday were 3, 20, 46, 59, 63 and the gold Mega Ball 13. There have been 24 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner, a run that stretches back over two months. The chances of winning are slim, with odds of 1 in 302.6 million.
The new prize of $1.1 billion will be paid out in an annuity over 29 years to the winner who chooses that option. However, most grand prize winners opt for the cash option, which for Tuesday’s drawing will be an estimated $568.7 million. “Mega Millions has just reached the $1 billion mark again. It’s especially nice to see the jackpot grow throughout the holidays and into the new year,” said Pat McDonald, the Ohio lottery director and lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium. The only larger jackpots in the history of the game have been the $1.53 billion won in South Carolina in 2018 and the $1.33 billion won in Illinois in July.
Elijah Kouza, assistant manager of a convenience store in Livonia, Michigan, reported a surge in Mega Millions ticket sales on Friday due to the high jackpot. “It’s kind of hilarious to me, because if it’s like $100 million, people are like, ‘Nah.’ They’ll pass,” he said. Mega Millions is played in 45 states, as well as Washington D.C. and the US Virgin Islands.
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