The Lotto Matrix: Still-Growing Mega And A Canadian Consolation

First Things First

How much is Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot drawing worth? Our “Grown Man” made like The Jeffersons this week and moved on up to No. 8 on the all-time list with a $843 million jackpot available. The cash option is $391.7 million, good for practically any deluxe apartment in the sky.

Somewhat impressively — or not, depending on your perspective — is that both drawings last week failed to produce any tickets that matched all five numbers without the Mega Ball. That makes three straight drawings without a seven-figure payout. A total of 18 tickets contained four numbers and the Mega Ball, resulting in $470,000 worth of payouts.

This will be a record 38th drawing since a player in Virginia matched all numbers for the $348 million jackpot June 27. The previous record of a 37-drawing dry spell ended when a $1.05 billion jackpot was claimed in Michigan on Jan. 22, 2021.

How much is Saturday’s Powerball jackpot drawing worth? Our “Big Boy” is nearing “Grown Man” status with a $467 million grand prize at stake, and that change could be in the cards by this time next week with two more rollovers. The cash option is a fairly robust $220.7 million.

It was a slow start to November for second-tier prize winners. The lone ticket to match five numbers without the Powerball the last three drawings was purchased in Pennsylvania and did not have the power play option ticked. A total of 42 tickets contained four numbers and the Powerball, paying out $3.25 million.

Three players were rewarded Wednesday night with $250,000 payouts when the 5x Power Play hit. It was the first time since Sept. 29 the Power Play delivered a 5x and just the fourth time this year.

There have been 26 rollovers since Powerball’s mammoth $1.787 billion jackpot was won Sept. 6, with both winners opting for the $410 million cash value option.

October napkin math (Mega Millions edition)

Last week, this space mentioned October would mark the first time since June that Mega Millions would pay out more than Powerball on tickets that matched five numbers.

The gap between the two multi-state lotteries wound up being only $2 million as Mega Millions had just seven tickets lacking only the Mega Ball for October. But four of those seven had Megapliers of 3x or higher, creating an average payout of $3 million.

The overall payouts for both tickets with five numbers and four numbers and the Mega Ball totaled $23.58 million. That was nearly $6.1 million less than Powerball, but the 89 Mega Millions tickets with four numbers and the Mega Ball for the month’s nine drawings were barely more than half the 168 Powerball recorded with 13 drawings.

The Oct. 7 drawing provided more than half the month’s payouts at $12.34 million, with tickets in New Jersey and California matching five numbers with 3x, 4x, and 5x Megapliers. It was the highest payout of second-tier prizes for a single drawing since the changeover to the $5 ticket in April.

Ohio Lottery re-ups with Scientific Games

Scientific Games announced a new 10-year partnership with the Ohio Lottery on Wednesday that will see it continue as the Buckeye State’s primary supplier of scratch-off tickets.

Earlier this year, the state agency named Scientific Games as its gaming systems technology provider. Scientific Games has helped increase scratch-off sales by approximately 50% since Fiscal Year 2019 through its Scientific Games Enhanced Partnership instant game category management program. The Ohio Lottery reported $2.4 billion in ticket sales for FY 2025.

“By applying data-driven game innovation and portfolio management, Scientific Games has continually improved Scratch-Off sales profits to benefit education in Ohio,” said John Schulz, the company’s president of Americas and Global Instant Products. “We are very proud that our partnership with the Ohio Lottery is based on collaboration and a deep understanding of the Lottery’s business, and we look forward to another 10 years of success together.”

No hard feelings, eh?

There was a silver lining for one Toronto Blue Jays fan who had to endure heartbreak in seeing his team fall to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the epic seven-game World Series.

The Jays Care Foundation announced “Aric from Oshawa” as the winner of its 50/50 raffle on Monday. Aric won slightly more than $25 million CAD ($17.7 million USD) tax-free.

The foundation raised more than $50 million CAD in raffle sales from the four World Series games hosted by the Blue Jays. The grand prizes for the 50/50s for the ALDS and ALCS totaled $1.5 million CAD and $3.2 million CAD, respectively.

Aric, who has declined interviews, received the call informing him of his life-changing windfall from former player Joe Carter, who lifted the Blue Jays to their last World Series title in 1993. The Jays Care Foundation runs programs and distributes grants to help increase children’s access to sport.

Newsworthy Nuggets

Why is the scratcher all wet, Todd? The Michigan Lottery unveiled four holiday-themed scratch-offs Monday, highlighted by one paying homage to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. That $5 scratcher has prizes ranging from $5 to $300,000 as part of a total pool of $18.5 million in total cash prizes available.

Won’t someone think of the meats and cheeses?!? The New York State Gaming Commission put out a release Friday informing the person holding a $1 million Mega Millions ticket purchased in Valley Stream from the Dec. 13, 2024 drawing has five weeks to claim the prize, which expires Dec. 13. The ticket was purchased at a Cold Cut Express and matched the numbers 36-43-52-58-65.

Who has the biggest active individual state lotto jackpot? The Texas Lotto continues to lead all comers, swelling to $75.25 million after two more rollovers. The cash option is a solid $41.9 million.

Michigan continues to hold steady in second as the Lotto 47 is offering a $19 million jackpot. California again gained ground in the No. 3 spot as two rollovers added $2 million to a now-$14 million kitty.

The Pick in Arizona has gone 62 drawings without a jackpot winner dating to June 14, resulting in an $11 million jackpot at stake Saturday night. The Classic Lotto in Ohio completes the top five with eight-figure jackpots as that grand prize is worth $10.2 million.

The multi-state Lotto America has a $6.41 million jackpot Saturday night with a cash option of $3.02 million available.

Until next week, dream big, check your numbers, keep your tickets where you can find them, and play responsibly!