Mega Millions jackpot soars to an estimated $1.15 billion for holiday drawing

[{"selector":"#anim-9ffecac2-db92-40d6-8b85-840828645b20","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(1)","scale(1.5)","scale(0.95)","scale(1)"],"offset":[0,0.33,0.66,1]},"delay":0,"duration":1450,"easing":"ease-in-out","fill":"both","iterations":1}] This holiday season, a lucky Mega Millions player might receive a $1.15 billion belated Christmas gift. With no one winning the jackpot on Christmas Eve, Friday’s grand prize hit an estimated $1.15 billion – the largest prize ever offered in the month of December. That’s a $516.1 million cash prize.

a ticket wins the grand prize, it would be just the seventh time in the game’s history that the jackpot has soared past $1 billion, the lottery said. The six won to date were awarded in South Carolina in 2018, Michigan in 2021, Illinois in 2022, Maine and Florida in 2023 and New Jersey last March. The Florida prize is the game’s record jackpot at $1.602 billion.

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[{"selector":"#anim-1422ef30-50ef-4cd4-9391-27f721b9d48b","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-b3a5971d-5155-4495-b515-cfab8bc3887d","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(131.62054%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Tuesday’s winning numbers were: 11, 14, 38, 45, 46 and Mega Ball 3. Although no tickets matched all six numbers in Tuesday night’s drawing, four tickets still won $1 million each by matching the first five numbers. Those tickets were sold in California, Missouri, Wyoming and Pennsylvania, according to the Mega Millions website.

[{"selector":"#anim-574bb99e-a952-4c4f-88fc-464eaae2ccee","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5081d6d7-1915-4b61-8c30-2312eea3851c","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] It’s been three months since a Houston-area resident claimed the last jackpot, $810 million, after purchasing the winning ticket at a gas station convenience store in Sugar Land. Before that, a $552 million jackpot was taken in Illinois on June 4 and a $1.128 billion prize was won in New Jersey on March 26. If the jackpot is won Friday, it would be the fifth largest jackpot in Mega Millions history.