The Mega Millions lottery has once again reached a staggering amount, with the January 10th drawing’s jackpot currently estimated at $1.1 billion ($568.7 million cash). This marks the fourth time in just over four years that the prize has surpassed the $1 billion mark. If won, it would be the third largest jackpot in the game’s history, following the record-breaking $1.537 billion won in South Carolina in 2018 and the $1.337 billion prize claimed in Illinois last July.
While the grand prize continues to elude players, millions of other prizes were won in the January 6th drawing. A total of 4,411,404 winning tickets were sold at various prize levels, with prizes ranging from $2 to $1 million. Five tickets matched the five white balls and won the second-tier prize of $1 million, with two being sold in New York and one each in Florida, Maryland, and New Jersey.
A total of 115 tickets matched four white balls and the Mega Ball to claim the third-tier prize. Fifteen of these tickets, which were purchased with the optional Megaplier, were worth $30,000 each thanks to the 3X multiplier in effect on Friday night. The remaining 100 third-tier winning tickets were each worth $10,000.
Since the last jackpot win on October 14, there have been a total of over 27.1 million winning tickets sold in 24 drawings. This includes 52 tickets worth $1 million or more, which were sold in 20 states across the country. In 2022, there were six Mega Millions jackpots awarded, ranging from $20 million in Tennessee to the aforementioned $1.337 billion in Illinois. The most recent jackpot win was worth $502 million, with winning tickets sold in California and Florida on October 14 of last according to a press release from Mega Millions website.
