On Eve Of National Lottery Day, Mega Millions Jackpot Climbs To $226 Million

Tuesday, July 16, presents a litany of “holidays” for everyone to celebrate. It’s Artificial Intelligence Appreciation Day. It’s National Corn Fritters Day. It’s Guinea Pig Appreciation Day.

As soon as you’re finished reading this article, ask ChatGPT whether it’s OK to feed corn fritters to your pet guinea pig, and you can celebrate everything at once.

Of course, the July 16 holidays are just a warm-up for the biggie, coming on Wednesday, July 17: National Lottery Day.

(It will also be National Hot Dog Day, World Emoji Day, and Take Your Poet to Work Day, whatever the heck that is.)

There will be a major lottery drawing on National Lottery Day, with Wednesday’s Powerball game offering an estimated jackpot of $75 million (cash value: $36 million).

But the bigger prize is at stake about an hour before National Lottery Day begins, in Tuesday’s scheduled 11 p.m. ET Mega Millions drawing, which has an estimated $226 million jackpot (cash option: $106.9 million).

No jackpots, but one double-millionaire

There were no grand-prize winners in last Friday’s $203 million Mega Millions draw, the 11th straight without a jackpot winner since an anonymous Illinois player won on June 4. Friday’s winning numbers were 15, 35, 48, 53, and 68 with a gold Mega Ball of 8, and the most anybody won was $30,000 (for pairing four white balls and the gold ball while also playing the 3x Megaplier).

Monday’s Powerball drawing, for an estimated $65 million jackpot, saw similar futility on numbers of 9, 31, 39, 40, 45, and red Powerball 23. The best anyone did was pairing four white balls and the red Powerball, although in this case, that translated to a $150,000 win.

The previous Powerball drawing, on Saturday, produced by far the biggest winner of the past several days. A player in Illinois matched the five white balls — 9, 55, 59, 66, and 69 — missed the red Powerball of 21, and played the Power Play for 2x, pocketing $2 million before taxes.

Powerball is on a modest streak of five drawings without a jackpot claimed since someone in Ohio hit for $138 million on July 3.

Tickets for either lottery cost $2, with an option in most 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 Puerto Rico in addition to those two jurisdictions.

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