The Mega Millions jackpot has escalated to a staggering $650 million, positioning itself as the seventh largest in the game's history. This significant increase came after no participants matched all six numbers in the Friday night draw, which were 15, 33, 37, 55, 61, and the gold Mega Ball 24. The cash option for the upcoming Tuesday, March 5 drawing is estimated at $308.6 million. The last time the jackpot was won occurred on December 8, with two lucky tickets from California sharing the prize.
March has historically been a fortuitous month for Mega Millions players. Since its inception in May 2002, 21 jackpots have been claimed in this month alone, with two of those prizes exceeding $500 million. Notably, on March 30, 2012, a $656 million jackpot was won by participants in Illinois, Kansas, and Maryland, setting a world record at the time. More recently, on March 30, 2018, a New Jersey player took home $533 million. The record for the largest Mega Millions jackpot stands at $1.602 billion, won in Florida on August 8 of last year.
Despite no jackpot winner in the March 1 drawing, 1,099,472 tickets across all prize levels were victorious. Among these, 28 tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball, securing the third-tier prize. Three of these tickets are valued at $40,000 each, thanks to the inclusion of the optional Megaplier, which quadrupled the prize amount on Friday night. The remaining 25 tickets earned the standard $10,000 prize.
Throughout the current jackpot run, spanning 24 drawings, nearly 16.2 million tickets have won prizes at various levels, from $2 up to $4 million. This includes 26 second-tier prizes of $1 million or more, distributed across 17 jurisdictions nationwide, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
Mega Millions holds the distinction of being the only lottery game to have awarded five jackpots over $1 billion, each in a different state (Florida, South Carolina, Maine, Illinois, and Michigan). Tickets are available for purchase in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, at a cost of $2 each. Players have the option to add the Megaplier for an additional $1, which can increase their non-jackpot prize winnings. The drawings are held twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. Eastern Time, in Atlanta, Georgia.
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