Mega Millions And Powerball Jackpots On The Rise, Nearing $400M Combined For Mid-Week Drawings

The major U.S. draw lotteries crowned five new millionaires last weekend, but they didn’t hand out any jackpot prizes. As a result, the Powerball progressive pot has crossed back over the $100 million mark and Mega Millions is inching toward $300 million for their respective mid-week drawings.

Last Friday’s Mega Millions game saw three players — one each in California, Virginia, and Maryland — win $1 million by matching all five white balls but not the gold Mega Ball. In Saturday’s Powerball draw, two tickets matched all five white balls but not the red Powerball. One of those, sold in Arizona, won $1 million, while the other, purchased in Tennessee, included the Power Play and pocketed $2 million.

There was another Powerball drawing on Monday night, but the most anybody won in that was $50,000.

Hints of jackpot fever?

After 13 consecutive drawings without a jackpot awarded, the Mega Millions grand prize is now at an estimated $279 million (cash option: $131.1 million) for Tuesday night’s draw.

Powerball is on an eight-draw streak without a grand-prize winner, bringing the jackpot for Wednesday to an estimated $114 million (cash value: $54.6 million).

Combined, the two jackpots have now reached $393 million. (Although, admittedly, the combined-jackpot statistic is fairly useless unless someone is planning on winning both games.)

By Lottery Geeks’ estimates, about 16 million tickets were sold for Friday’s Mega Millions drawing, which had an advertised jackpot value of $251 million. That’s a notable increase from the estimated 14.8 million purchases for the previous Mega Millions draw, and suggests a hint of “jackpot fever” is beginning to set in.

The same is not true on the Powerball side, where the jackpots have been smaller. Only about 7 million tickets were sold for Monday’s draw, while a shade under 12 million were sold for the Saturday edition.

Tickets for either lottery cost $2, and in most states, customers have the option to play the Megaplier or Power Play multiplier for an additional $1.

Both Powerball and Mega Millions tickets are available in every state except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. Tickets are also sold in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, and, for Powerball only, Puerto Rico.

All-Time Biggest Jackpots

Here is a list of the all-time top 10 U.S. lottery jackpots:

1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
2. $1.76 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
3. $1.6 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
4. $1.59 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
5. $1.54 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
6. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
7. $1.34 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
8. $1.33 billion, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
9. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024, won in New Jersey
10. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California

And here’s the all-time top 10 by lump-sum cash value:

1. $997.6 million, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
2. $983.5 million, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
3. $877.8 million, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
4. $794.2 million, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
5. $780.5 million, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
6. $776.6 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan
7. $774.1 million, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
8. $723.5 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
9. $621 million, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
10. $558.1 million, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California