Mega Millions Is Worth $541 Million? Surely You Can’t Be Serious

Much like Leon — you know, the air control tower employee with the jiggly gut in Airplane — Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot is getting larger.

What? A dated and kind of obscure movie reference from 1980 doesn’t fit in a lotto preview story? Come on. It just so happens that the next drawing — worth an estimated $541 million, with a $257.6 million cash prize — is occurring on what’s apparently known as “Travel Tuesday,” when airlines and hotels slash prices in a Black Friday-type of event.

So, yes. Travel Tuesday + growing jackpot = free use of Airplane! references. (Especially when we’re just a week removed from the death at age 80 of Airplane! co-writer and co-director Jim Abrahams.)

In the most recent drawing, on Friday of the long Thanksgiving weekend, the winning numbers were 3, 29, 34, 37, and 38 with a gold Mega Ball of 17. They yielded a single million-dollar winner, as an Oregon ticket-buyer matched the five white balls for the prize.

Lottery Geeks estimates nearly 20.5 million tickets were sold for Friday’s drawing.

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s drawing — should it yield a winner — would be the 12th largest in Mega Millions history.

The last jackpot win, which happened 23 drawings ago, yielded an $810 million prize to a customer in Texas. Since then, there have been 35 millionaires minted as a result of hitting the Match 5, and over 13.4 million winning tickets of one stripe or another have been sold.

Overall this year, only two other Mega Millions jackpots were hit: a $552 million victory to an Illinois resident on June 4, and a $1.128 billion dollar winner sold in New Jersey, which hit on March 26 — and still has yet to be claimed.

Roger, over. 

Powerball crashes the party

The Powerball top prize for Wednesday’s drawing isn’t quite as mouth-watering as the Mega Millions jackpot, but it is nonetheless up to an alluring $240 million, with a $113.6 million cash option, after nobody went six-for-six on Monday.

Monday’s numbers — 3, 9, 26, 61, and 67 with a red Powerball of 13 — also yielded single million-dollar winner, as a Massachusetts ticket-buyer hit all five white balls.

Lottery Geeks estimates 9.7 million tickets were sold for Monday’s drawing, which was the 18th in a row without a winner.

Tickets for either lottery cost $2, with most states offering the multiplier option — which impacts any prize won except the jackpot — for an additional $1.

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, and in Puerto Rico, 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. $1.76 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