The Mega Millions lottery jackpot currently sits at a staggering $1.6 billion, which makes it the largest jackpot in history. This comes after no one managed to pick all six numbers correctly, following Friday’s draw. Even before Friday’s draw, the jackpot was the largest it had ever been for the Mega Millions lottery. However, officials for the lottery say that it now has the world record for the largest jackpot of all time.
The Mega Millions Lottery jackpot is now sitting at an incredible $1.6 billion. This is the largest lottery jackpot in history. Could you be the lucky winner?
Mega Millions Tweaks Game for Larger Jackpots
You may be wondering how the jackpot has grown so large. In 2017, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MSLA), which runs Mega Millions and the Powerball lotteries, revised the lottery. They increased the number of mega balls by 10. This, in turn, made it more difficult to win the jackpot. The odds increased from one in 258.9 million, to one in 302.5 million. The idea was to make it more difficult, in order to allow the jackpot to grow larger.
Currently, the largest lottery jackpot won in the USA occurred in 2016, when three players managed to win the Powerball jackpot. That jackpot also stood at $1.6 billion. The largest Mega Millions jackpot win was back in 2012, when a player won $656 million.
Mega Millions Offers $900+ Million Lump Sum
The next draw for the lottery will take place tonight, 23 October, at 11 pm ET. We look forward to writing a follow-up story on this when we finally have a lucky winner. The Powerball lottery also has a pretty large jackpot on the line, with $620 million up for grabs. The Powerball has slightly better odds, with chances of winning one in 292.5 million. The Powerball was also revised by the MSLA to make it more difficult to win, but these changes happened in 2015.
The number of Powerballs was reduced to nine, but the number of white balls was increased to ten. Many players thought that the change had improved their chance, but this is not the case. Before the change, the chances of landing the jackpot were one in 175.2 million, whereas they are now one in 292.5 million. Should someone manage to win the Mega Millions jackpot tonight, they will receive $904 million, if they take the lump sum payout, or they could receive the full $1.6 billion in payments spread out over the next 29 years.
