There was no winner for the jackpot of the Mega Millions drawing held this Friday night in the United States, which raised the jackpot to an impressive estimate of 1.1 billion dollars (1.1 billion) that will seek an owner again on March 26 .
It is the eighth time that the Mega Millions jackpot exceeds 1 billion.
The next lucky person will be able to choose between an annual payment of the total over 29 years, or choose a single cash payment that in this case would be 525.8 million dollars.
This Friday’s winning combination, which had a prize pool of 977 millionwas: 3, 8, 31, 35, 44 and the mega ball 16.
In this Friday’s drawing, the Mega Millions lottery distributed five prizes to tickets that matched five of the winning numbers in the states of California, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska and Texas.
In addition, there was a sixth winner, in Virginia, who not only matched all five numbers, but also the Megaplier, an option that is purchased when playing this lottery and which has the function of multiplying any secondary prize by 2, 3, 4 and up to 5 times the original amount.
The last time someone won the Mega Millions jackpot was December 8 of last year.when two $394 million winning tickets were sold at a Chevron gas station in Encino, California.
Despite the slim chance of winning, which is one in 302.6 million, players continue to buy tickets as the jackpot size increases.
Mega Millions began on August 31, 1996, but then it was known as the Big Game.
The first drawing was held on September 6, 1996, and six states participated: Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia.
In Mega Millions, players must select six numbers from two groups: five numbers from 1 to 70 and one number from 1 to 25 (the golden Mega Ball). To win the jackpot you must match all six winning numbers in the drawing, which takes place every Tuesday and Friday at 11 pm Eastern Time.
The opportunity to purchase Mega Millions tickets is available at most gas stations and markets in 45 US states, in addition to the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands and costs two dollars. The places where it is not played are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.
Federal and state taxes will also reduce the money collected, with deductions depending on the state where you live.
Eight states, including Florida, do not charge income taxes on lottery winnings. They are California, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.
Mega Millions is the only lottery game to have awarded four jackpots exceeding $1 billion: in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
