Sun Shines On Florida Mega Millions Player To The Tune Of $800M

The first billion-dollar Mega Millions jackpot of the $5-per-ticket era will have to wait.

A lucky player in Florida went a perfect six-for-six Tuesday night and won the jackpot for an estimated $800 million — the 10th largest in the history of the game — triggering a reset to a mere $50 million for Friday’s drawing.

People who play “birthday numbers” were out of luck Tuesday, as the winning balls drawn were 34, 48, 49, 59, and 70, with gold Mega Ball 12. The customer who bought the winning ticket in Florida will have the choice between $800 million in annualized payments over 30 years or $344.2 million as a lump-sum cash option.

A customer in New York won $3 million in Tuesday’s drawing by matching everything but the Mega Ball and hitting a 3X multiplier, while a player in Illinois scored $5 million by also matching all five white balls while drawing the 5X multiplier.

This was the 38th Mega Millions drawing since the last time the jackpot hit, in Ohio on March 17.

When Mega Millions raised its price point from $2 to $5 in April 2025, it came with expectations of larger jackpots and of the billion-dollar threshold being crossed routinely. But it hasn’t played out that way, with ticket sales generally struggling and the highest jackpot so far a $983 million hit in Georgia last November.

“Jackpot fever” is an unofficial term for a point at which sales are growing exponentially. In recent years, lottery industry insiders have identified about $800 million as the point at which that starts to kick in. And sure enough, Mega Millions was just beginning to see that sales spike.

Lottery Geeks estimates 9.2 million tickets were sold for the July 17 drawing, 11.3 million for July 21, 11.5 million last Friday night, and 14.9 million for the $800 million drawing Tuesday.

Now the slow build toward the next round of jackpot fever begins again.

Jolly good Powerball numbers

With the Mega Millions bubble burst, Powerball takes over as the biggest jackpot in the land — and it was already selling more tickets (in large part because of its $2 starting price point).

The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night is an estimated $663 million, with a cash value of $290.4 million. This will be the 38th drawing since the last Powerball jackpot came in on May 2.

It will also be the fourth drawing since sales opened up to include customers in the U.K. Estimated ticket sales for the first week since the change are worth a peek — although there are many variables to consider and no breakdowns are available as to what percentage of sales are being generated across the Atlantic.

Still, total ticket sales Monday were an estimated 17.3 million, up 21.8% from the previous Monday’s 14.2 million. And ticket sales Saturday were an estimated 26.5 million, up 27.4% from the prior Saturday’s 20.8 million. (Saturdays tend to feature the highest sales numbers, as there are three days of build to the draw instead of two days before those taking place on Mondays and Wednesdays.)

So, Powerball sales are rising. But it’s impossible to say how much of that is attributable to U.K. interest and how much is natural sales momentum as the jackpot swells.

Both Powerball and Mega Millions are legal in all states except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. Tickets for both draw games are also sold in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Puerto Rico and the U.K., customers can buy tickets for Powerball, but not for Mega Millions.

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. $1.82 billion, Powerball, Dec. 24, 2025, won in Arkansas
3. $1.79 billion, Powerball, Sept. 6, 2025, won in Missouri and Texas
4. $1.76 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
5. $1.6 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
6. $1.59 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
7. $1.54 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
8. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
9. $1.34 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
10. $1.33 billion, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon

Here is 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. $834.9 million, Powerball, Dec. 24, 2025, won in Arkansas
5. $820.6 million, Powerball, Sept. 6, 2025, won in Missouri and Texas
6. $794.2 million, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
7. $780.5 million, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
8. $776.6 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan
9. $774.1 million, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
10. $723.5 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine