It’s National Lottery Week! National Lottery Day Is Thursday! Hooray!

What did you get us for National Lottery Week? Because — fun fact! — it is National Lottery Week. Fifth annual.

Good times. Good, good, good times.

If you didn’t buy us a present yet, there is still time because Thursday is the centerpiece of National Lottery Week. It’s — one guess — National Lottery Day.

Woo-hoo!

While it’s easy to scoff at silly, made-up holidays like this, you should know that lotteries helped fund the American Revolution! Without lotteries, we’d still be under the rule of the king. And if we were still under the rule of the king, Hamilton would’ve been so very different. 

So, happy National Lottery Week, and a happy National Lottery Day as well.

Hopefully you can celebrate them by winning the Powerball, which is set to go off Wednesday night. This will be the 20th time since the last jackpot was claimed.

As a result, we’re getting into serious money territory, with the jackpot worth an estimated $264 million.

Monday night’s drawing — numbers 8, 12, 45, 46, 63, and a red Powerball of 24 — did, however, yield a pair of Match Five winners. An Arizona ticket-buyer won $2 million after purchasing the Power Play multiplier, and a Michigan customer took home $1 million.

Lottery Geeks estimates 9.1 million tickets were sold for Monday’s drawing.

Mega moves

Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing, the fourth since the last winner was crowned, will be for $90 million.

Nobody won last Friday’s drawing — numbers 12, 23, 24, 31, 56, and a gold Mega Ball of 1. No one matched all five white balls.

Lottery Geeks estimates 4.2 million tickets were sold.

Tickets for Mega Millions cost $5, while Powerball tickets cost $2, with most states offering the multiplier option for Powerball — which impacts any prize won except the jackpot — for an additional $1. Mega Millions comes with an automatic multiplier for any prize except the jackpot.

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, 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. $1.22 billion, Mega Millions, Dec. 27, 2024, won in California
10. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024, won in New Jersey

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. $571.9 million, Mega Millions, Dec. 27, 2024, won in California