Mega Millions Jackpot Climbs To Est. $1.05 Billion For Tuesday's Drawing
It Is The Second Billion-Dollar Lottery Jackpot In A Month
JPEG and EPS images of the Iowa Lottery logo and Mega Millions logos and images of Iowa tickets in the games are available here and here.
CLIVE, Iowa - For the second time in a month, a lottery jackpot has topped $1 billion.
The Mega Millions® jackpot has climbed to an estimated $1.05 billion annuity, $527.9 million cash option for the game's next drawing on Tuesday.
With no jackpot winner in its drawing on Friday, the Mega Millions jackpot is now tied for the fourth-largest prize in the history of the game and the seventh-largest U.S. lottery jackpot.
Earlier this month, the Mega Millions and Powerball® jackpots were both in the stratosphere, simultaneously topping the $700 million mark for just the second time. The Powerball jackpot reached $1.08 billion before it was won on July 19.
The Mega Millions jackpot has now been growing for more than three months. It was last won on April 18. The game's drawings occur at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The Latest Winning Numbers and Iowa Sales and Prizes
Iowa Lottery players won a total of 25,078 prizes in Friday's Mega Millions drawing. The winning numbers that night were: 5-10-28-52-63 and Mega Ball 18. The Megaplier® number was 5.
Two tickets in Iowa were just one number away from having at least a share of the jackpot and won $10,000 each. They matched four of the first five numbers and the Mega Ball.
The $10,000-winning tickets were purchased at: The Jo Stop, 828-B 471st St. in Northwood; and Hy-Vee, 1556 First Ave. NE in Cedar Rapids.
Iowa Lottery players bought more than $1.4 million in Mega Millions tickets for Friday's drawing. But the average Mega Millions purchase in Iowa for the drawing remained about three plays, or $6 per ticket. Lottery officials were pleased that a lot of people had fun playing and didn't go overboard.
Easy Picks vs. Your Own Numbers
The vast majority of tickets purchased in games like Mega Millions and Powerball are easy-pick plays, meaning that the lottery terminal assigns the numbers printed on the ticket. About 93 percent of the Iowa plays for Friday's Mega Millions drawing were easy picks.
But players also can choose their own numbers. They choose five numbers from a pool of 1 to 70 for the white balls and one number from a separate pool of 25 for the yellow Mega Ball.
Neither option is luckier. The odds of winning are the same for every ticket purchased in the game. There are more winners from easy-pick plays simply because the vast majority of tickets purchased are easy picks.
Reminders For Office Pools
When the jackpots really get up there, a lot of folks pool their money to buy tickets as a group with co-workers, neighbors, or friends and family.
The Iowa Lottery keeps reminders about group lottery play as a permanent feature on its website here.
For example, a quick tip for the person buying tickets on behalf of a group is to keep a careful list of everyone who contributes, how much money they put in, and when. That can help answer any questions later about who was "in."
How Close Are We To The Records?
There is still room to go before the Mega Millions jackpot would reach the overall record for the game.
The largest jackpot in Mega Millions was a $1.537 billion prize won in the drawing on Oct. 23, 2018, by a ticket purchased in South Carolina.
Powerball holds the current world record for a lottery prize. That jackpot of $2.04 billion was won in the drawing on Nov. 7, 2022, by a ticket in California.
How Is The Jackpot Growing By So Much?
As a jackpot continues to climb, the amounts by which it increases between drawings grow larger. The Iowa Lottery has gotten questions from players this week who wondered how the Mega Millions jackpot can jump up by so much.
Sales are the main driving factor behind the jackpot amount, and sales follow the jackpot up. As the jackpot climbs, sales increase. That, in turn, causes the jackpot to climb even higher.
When the jackpot is as high as it is now, it can increase by tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars between drawings. The huge increases show just how many people are playing the game across the country in the 47 jurisdictions that sell Mega Millions tickets.
$1 Million Mega Millions Prize Still Unclaimed In Ames
With first-time and occasional players buying tickets for the giant drawing, the Iowa Lottery reminds everyone to check their tickets for any prize they may have won, not just the jackpot.
There are nine prize levels in Mega Millions, from $2 for matching the Mega Ball alone up to the jackpot for matching all six numbers in a drawing.
A $1 million Mega Millions prize won in central Iowa remains unclaimed after nearly 11 months and will expire in September if it is not claimed in time.
The $1 million-winning ticket was purchased at The Filling Station/Gateway Expresse, 2400 University Blvd. in Ames, for the Mega Millions drawing on Sept. 6, 2022.
The winner or winners of the $1 million prize have until the close of business on Sept. 6, 2023, to claim it at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.
Please Play Responsibly
And as always, the Iowa Lottery reminds everyone that it only takes one ticket to win. Please have fun in this big-jackpot moment and stay within your means as you play.
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