All Eyes On The Mega Millions Prize This Week Following Powerball Win In Ohio

A fireworks-filled Fourth of July eve for a lucky Powerball player in Ohio has set the stage for a week in which there’s a stark imbalance between the jackpot values in the top two draw lottery games.

Powerball’s top prize reset to $20 million after last Wednesday’s win and sits at a modest $29 million (cash value: $13.7 million) for Monday night’s draw. Those numbers are dwarfed by the growing Mega Millions jackpot, which stands at an estimated $181 million (cash option: $84.3 million) for the next drawing on Tuesday.

The winning Powerball ticket, worth $138 million in annuity form or $65.8 million as a lump-sum cash payment, was sold at a Walmart in Huber Heights, Ohio, and the numbers were auto-picked. According to the Ohio Lottery, the winner has not yet come forward to claim the life-changing prize.

This was the fourth Powerball jackpot win of 2024, and is the smallest of the four. There have been two Mega Millions jackpot wins this year and those were both also significantly larger than the Powerball hit in Ohio last week.

Surprising Powerball ticket sales

In Saturday’s follow-up Powerball draw for the minimum $20 million jackpot, the largest prize awarded was $100,000, to each of four tickets that paired four of five white balls and the red Powerball and played the 2x Power Play.

Lottery Geeks estimates 9.84 million tickets were purchased for Saturday’s draw — which, somewhat surprisingly, exceeds the estimated 9.67 million for the seven-times-bigger jackpot last Wednesday.

Our best guesses are the news of the winner Wednesday sparked some interest in the next Powerball draw despite the diminished value, and people had a lot more time on their hands to buy lottery tickets over the long weekend than in the last couple of days heading into the Fourth of July holiday.

Friday’s Mega Millions draw, meanwhile, attracted an estimated 13.16 million ticket purchases. None of those customers proved lucky enough to win the $162 million jackpot, but there were three new millionaires crowned.

One player each in Massachusetts, Missouri, and Tennessee paired all five white balls — 6, 15, 32, 54, and 67 — but missed on the gold Mega Ball of 4, resulting in an even $1 million apiece before taxes.

Tickets for either lottery cost $2, with an option in many states to play the Megaplier or Power Play multiplier for $1 more. Both Powerball and Mega Millions tickets are available in every state except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. Mega Millions tickets can also be purchased in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, while Powerball tickets are sold in those two jurisdictions plus 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