Mega Millions Jackpot Reaches Record $900 Million Mark
The Mega Millions jackpot has reached a record estimated value of $900 million ahead of the draw on Friday 19th October, the biggest prize in the lottery’s 22-year history. Ticket sales are expected to increase further ahead of the historic draw, so the jackpot’s value could rise once again before the winning numbers are drawn this Friday.
Nine Tickets Come Close To Winning Jackpot
There were over 4.5 million winners in the draw on Tuesday 16th October, with nine tickets coming agonisingly close to landing the $667 million jackpot after matching all five main numbers to claim $1 million each. However, they just missed out on the jackpot windfall after failing to match the Mega Ball number of 9, resulting in the jackpot rolling over once again. One of the Match 5 winners added the Megaplier option to their ticket, quintupling their winnings to $5 million.
The Mega Millions jackpot hasn’t been won since July when $543 million was claimed by a group of Californian office workers in Silicon Valley – the largest ever single-winning ticket since the lottery began. The jackpot value automatically reset to $40 million following that draw, because it had been won, and has rolled over ever since for 24 successive draws.
Biggest Jackpot in History
The value of the current jackpot surpasses the $656 million won by three ticket holders in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland in March 2012, and is the second-biggest lottery prize in American history. The cash option available is currently worth an estimated $513 million ahead of this Friday, although the jackpot is expected to increase in value once again as ticket sales rise with players dreaming of winning the mammoth amount, and could even come close to the $1 billion mark.
Taylor Kimball, a 23-year-old barista from South Boston, Massachusetts, has seen a noticeable increase in tickets being bought from her local café in the run-up to the draw. She said: “It’s a lot of people’s first time buying tickets and they don’t know how to phrase it. Everybody is (buying). A $2 ticket might change your life. Someone said they would buy their neighbour’s home, tear it down and actually get their parking spot back. Another said they would buy a boat house.”
There has been a noticeable increase in the size of Mega Millions jackpots since changes were made to the game in October 2017, with the number of main balls decreasing to 70, the number of Mega Balls increasing to 25, and the cost of entering doubling to $2. These changes meant the odds of winning the jackpot lengthened to 1 in 302 million, resulting in bigger jackpots on a more frequent basis.
You can be in with a chance of winning the $900 million jackpot by picking your numbers from various authorised ticket retailers for just $2 per line, and you also safely and securely enter online from the comfort of your own home. Best of luck!