The Lotto Matrix: Nine-Figure Jackpots, National Lotto Day, More

First things first

How much is Friday’s Mega Million jackpot drawing worth? Mega Millions is a “Player” this week with a $100 million prize that can become a $44.3 million cash payout for those lacking patience.

Please note the glossary of definitive subjective descriptions for jackpots will be coming to the Lotto Matrix soon. Also, the numbers geek in me does appreciate the uniform $10 million incremental increases that have come with five rollovers since a winning ticket for the $348 million drawing June 27 was sold in Virginia.

In a Mega quirk, “1” was the Mega Ball for the last two drawings after “24” came out as the Mega Ball the previous two. It was a quiet week on the second-tier prize front: No one matched all five non-Mega Ball numbers in either drawing, and only one of the 10 tickets that matched four numbers and the Mega Ball had a 3x Megaplier or higher as payouts totaled $210,000.

How much is Saturday’s Powerball jackpot drawing worth? The Powerball jackpot has hit “Big Boy” level by surpassing $250 million during the week and climbing to $288 million. The cash option is a healthy $130.6 million.

It is now seven weeks and 21 drawings since someone in California produced a winning ticket for the May 31 drawing to claim the $204.5 million payday.

There was nowhere near the drama from the last three drawings compared to the July 9 drawing when nine tickets had the five non-Powerball numbers. But there were four such tickets sold in Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Texas last Saturday and Monday. The ones in Arizona and Wisconsin had the 2x Power Play ticked off, resulting in $2 million payouts.

Oregon lottery looking to regulate couriers

The Oregon Lottery has posted a notice for a rulemaking proposal looking to regulate lotto couriers in the state as well as ban out-of-state ticket sales. It was one of three proposed rules submitted for consideration, with another banning bulk purchases — a nod to combatting the issues that plagued the outgoing Texas Lottery Commission — and a third that authorizes the Oregon Lottery to deny prize payments won with illegal tickets as well as grant anonymity to winners.

A Brightstar Missouri makeover

Brightstar announced Tuesday it entered an eight-year deal with the Missouri Lottery to deploy its fully integrated lottery solution OMNIA as a means of modernizing play in the Show Me State. OMNIA will connect the agency’s retail and digital lottery channels and bring enhancements to the Missouri Lottery’s digital program to include features such as Connected Play, second-chance programs, and a loyalty program.

“Brightstar is honored to support the Missouri Lottery as it embraces the evolving lottery landscape and implements innovative solutions that will increase flexibility to manage its operations and engage players in new ways,” said Brightstar Chief Operating Officer of North America Lottery Scott Gunn. “We look forward to delivering these high-performing solutions, while helping the Lottery achieve its goals of maximizing funds to education.”

Brightstar will also be delivering more than 9,000 new pieces of equipment to retail lotteries, including 5,250 Retailer Pro S2s, 2,220 Game Touch 28s, 250 Game Touch Draws, and 1,250 Digital Menu Boards.

How did you celebrate National Lottery Day?

Thursday was the day where we all (responsibly) could have — to steal the New York Lottery’s tagline — “a dollar and a dream” on National Lottery Day. Lottery Geeks cohort Jeff Edelstein, ninja of the napkin math, noted that Americans spent $113.3 billion on lottery tickets in 2024 across the 45 states where it is legal. As a point of comparison, the 39 jurisdictions where commercial sports betting exists produced $149.7 billion worth of wagers last year.

Newsworthy nuggets

Connecticut man has a decision on his hands: The Connecticut Lottery reported there was a Lucky For Life second-tier prize winner Thursday, which offers $25,000 a year for life or a one-time payment of $390,000. The winner, identified as “Paul O.” from Danbury, purchased the winning ticket that matched five numbers at the J&R Shelter Rock Road gas station in Danbury.

A million-dollar mix-up nets another million: In recalling the wild July 9 Powerball drawing that resulted in nine Powerball tickets that matched five numbers without the Powerball, two of them were sourced to the same winner in Massachusetts.

Paul Corcoran of Fitchburg erroneously thought the last line of his Powerball ticket with seven dates included a drawing that had already occurred. Corcoran diligently addressed this oversight by playing the same numbers at a different location and matched all five white balls drawn — 5, 9, 25, 28, 69 — on both tickets. Upon picking up his winnings at lottery headquarters last Friday, Corcoran had yet to determine how he would spend his winnings.

Next round is on her: The Michigan Lottery is reporting a woman who thought she had a non-winning Clover Fast Cash ticket actually had one with a big payday as she claimed a progressive jackpot of over $865,000.

The 65-year-old winner, who wished to remain anonymous, told lottery officials she buys a Fast Cash ticket daily and this time purchased one while out to eat. The bartender who sold her the ticket later said that the Millington Inn had sold a “jackpot winning Fast Cash ticket” the night before.

“My first thought was that she was lying to me because I thought it was impossible that I may have won,” she said. “When I looked my ticket over again and saw I really was the big winner, I couldn’t help but cry.”

The winner said she plans to use her winnings to complete some home improvements and make some investments.

Who has the biggest active individual state lotto jackpot in the land? While the names remain the same, there is a change in the pecking order this week as Florida and New York flip spots for third and fourth, respectively. The Florida Lotto has a $17.25 million jackpot up for grabs Saturday, while the New York Lotto checks in at $16.7 million.

The Texas Lottery remains the biggest prize for state-run lotteries at $38 million while offering a $20.4 million cash option. California again ranks second, with another two rollovers bumping the jackpot to $26 million with an $11.5 million cash option. The Illinois Lotto rounds out the top five once more, offering $12.2 million.

The multi-state Lotto America has a $2.85 million jackpot with a cash option of $1.29 million available Saturday night.

Until next week, dream big, check your numbers, and play responsibly!