Lottery jackpot crosses $1 billion

For betting optimists, the holidays are rolling on with another chance at a massive lottery jackpot. 

Mega Millions’ soared to more than $1 billion after no winners were drawn on Christmas Eve. Friday is the next drawing. 

"We know that many people will likely receive tickets to Friday’s drawing as holiday gifts, and what a gift that would turn out to be if you ended up with a ticket worth a $1.15 billion jackpot," said Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium.

As a one-time cash payout, it amounts to $516.1 million. The jackpot is poised to become Mega Millions’ fifth-largest prize in the game's history, according to the lottery.

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The three jackpot wins that Mega Millions has seen so far this year occurred in mid-September, early June and late March. They were worth $810 million, $552 million and $1.128 billion, respectively.

The $1.128 billion grand prize, won in March and recently claimed, is the lottery’s largest of the year so far, and it's the only one to break 10-figures in 2024 to date, according to Mega Millions.

The Christmas Eve $970 million jackpot saw 106 winners eligible for $10,000, with 13 Megaplier winners each hauling in $30,000. 

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Drawings conducted since September, when the Mega Millions jackpot was most recently won, have produced a multitude of lower-level lottery winners. Fifty-six people have scored windfalls of at least $1 million, and others have received smaller sums, the lottery reported. 

Friday's drawing is one of just two left for 2024, wrapping up what has been a unique year for the lottery.

"The jackpot has been won only three times so far in 2024, the fewest wins in any single year since the game began in 2002. Yet just last year, there were 10 jackpots won, the most in a single year since a major matrix change in 2013," Mega Millions detailed. 

Fellow lottery Powerball, out on Saturday, has a purse of $145 million, or $66.2 million in cash. 

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As of Monday, Powerball has seen nine people win its grand prize this year, the largest of which was worth $1.326 billion annuitized.