NewsNational News

Actions

Mega Billions: Mega Millions jackpot tops $1 billion for Tuesday drawing

One lucky Arizona player is $1 million richer after Friday's drawing
Mega Millions
Posted
and last updated

The Mega Millions jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.05 billion Friday night, only the fifth time in the history of the game that the grand prize has reached into the billions.

Tuesday night brought new numbers for a possible new winner, the winning numbers were: 8, 23, 30, 45, 61 and the mega ball of 18.

The Arizona Lottery tells ABC15 that one lucky Arizona player is now a millionaire after Friday's drawing.

The ticket was sold at the Circle K location on Willow Creek Road in Prescott.

There have been 29 straight draws without a Mega Millions jackpot winner since the last grand prize ticket on April 18.

The $1.05 billion prize up for grabs in the next drawing Tuesday night would be for a sole winner choosing to be paid through an annuity, with annual payments over 30 years. Jackpot winners almost always opt for a lump sum payment, which for Tuesday’s drawing would be an estimated $527.9 million.

The potential jackpot is the fourth-largest in the game and the fifth over $1 billion, Mega Millions said in a statement early Saturday.

Although there were no jackpot winners, one ticket in Pennsylvania was worth $5 million and another in the state connected for $1 million. There also were $1 million winners in Arizona, California and New York, Mega Millions said.

It has been less than two weeks since someone in Los Angeles won a $1.08 billion Powerball prize that ranked as the sixth-largest in U.S. history. The winner of the prize is still a mystery.

Lottery jackpots grow so large because the odds of winning are so small. For Mega Millions, the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 302.6 million.

Winners also would be subject to federal taxes, and many states also tax lottery winnings.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.