MIAMI.- The Mega Millions lottery jackpot reached a staggering $977 million for Friday night’s drawing after no ticket matched all six winning numbers on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s winning combination was 24, 46, 49, 62, 66 and the Golden Mega Ball: 7. The estimated jackpot was 893 million, with a cash prize of 421.4 million. The cash prize for Friday’s drawing is 461 million.
Four people won $1 million per ticket in California, Texas, Virginia and Florida.
This is the sixth time in the game’s 22-year history that the jackpot has reached that figure and only five times has it exceeded $1 billion.
Mega Millions is the only lottery that has awarded five prizes exceeding that amount, all in different states. South Carolina was first in 2018, followed by Michigan in 2021, Illinois in 2022, Maine in early 2023 and Florida last August.
The odds of winning the jackpot are very low at one in 302.6 million.
Mega Millions tickets cost two dollars and are sold in 45 states, Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands.
Source: With information from AP
