Mega Millions Jackpot Surges Past $400 Million

Mega Millions Jackpot Surges Past $400 Million
Thursday, July 19, 2018

One of the largest Mega Millions jackpots in history will be up for grabs on Friday night after the top prize climbed to $422 million. Only five larger jackpots have ever been given away since the multi-state game was launched in 2002.

How Long Has the Jackpot Been Rolling?

The top prize has not been won since Friday 4th May, when the ABC XYZ Trust from Ohio snapped up $142 million. A run of 21 rollovers has pushed the jackpot beyond the $400 million mark, and it has started to grow quicker and quicker over the past couple of weeks.

A jackpot of $340 million was offered last Friday, and then it jumped to $375 million for Tuesday night. Nobody was able to match the full winning line, but there were three ‘Match 5’ winners who each took home $1 million. These tickets were sold in Florida, New Jersey and Oklahoma. Go to the Mega Millions Results page for a full breakdown of all the latest prizes, which included 25 tickets in the ‘Match 4 + Mega Ball’ tier.

Could a New Record Be Set?

The current jackpot still has some way to go before it breaks the record for the largest prize ever to be offered on Mega Millions, but it could happen with a few more rollovers. The biggest jackpot in the game’s history remains the $656 million which was shared between three winning tickets on 30th March 2012.

Three of the top six jackpots have been from this year. Shane Missler, a 20-year-old from Florida, won $451 million on 5th January, before Richard Wahl from New Jersey landed $533 million on 30th March. The present jackpot could yet eclipse both of these big wins.

Why Have There Been So Many Big Jackpots in 2018?

A number of changes were made to Mega Millions in October 2017 to try and help create huge jackpots on a more regular basis. The starting jackpot was increased from $15 million to $40 million, while the number matrix changed from its previous format of five main balls from 75 and one Mega Ball from 15. You now have to select five main balls from 1 to 70 and a Mega Ball between 1 and 25. This change lengthened the odds of winning the top prize, but improved the chances of winning in the second tier. Prize payouts were also increased in a number of the lower tiers. To pay for these changes, the cost of a single ticket increased to $2.

The odds of winning are the same whether the jackpot is large or small, but more tickets are sold as the top prize gets bigger and as such a greater percentage of the possible combinations will be covered. There could be a winner at any time and the only way to give yourself a chance is to take part, either by visiting an authorized retailer in one of the participating states or picking numbers online. Good luck!