Lottery News

It has been just four months since Mega Millions sold a $1.34 billion jackpot ticket in Illinois. The game has sprung roaring back with a top jackpot of $1 billion all set to draw on Friday.

When no player turned out as a winner for Tuesday night's $785 million grand prize, the Mega Millions jackpot grew to an estimated $940 million. It's the largest since July 30, 2022, when the $1.34 billion Mega Millions jackpot was anonymously claimed by two Illinois lottery players in a partnership.

The next Mega Millions is set to draw on Friday night at 11:00 pm Eastern Time. 

The $940 million jackpot amount is the 4th largest Mega Millions top prize in the game's history and the 6th largest in the U.S. history of lottery jackpots of all time.

The lump-sum value of the prize is $483.5 million in cash which is the 8th largest in the all-time US lottery cash value list. 

The race to the current jackpot started on October 18 at the top prize of $20 million. The last jackpot winner to Mega Millions was three months back when two winning tickets were sold in Florida and California and they had split a $502 million jackpot.   

So, for all those lottery players who are dreaming of what will all the prize money look like in their bank account after federal and state tax deductions, you can simply get a tax analysis of the current Mega Millions jackpot by visiting The Lottery Lab's Tax Calculator page. Also, the rush of ticket sales over the next few days is likely to surge the jackpot to an even higher amount!

There was no jackpot winner for Tuesday night's Mega Millions draw, but 6 lucky lottery players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Arizona, 1 from Maryland, 1 from Mississippi, 1 from South Dakota, 1 from Texas, and 1 from Virginia. Three of the six second-prize winners — from Arizona, Mississippi, and South Dakota — purchased their lottery tickets with the Megaplier option for an extra $1 per play, multiplying their prize to $4 million because the Megaplier number drawn was 4.

Also, a total number of 68 tickets matched four of the first five numbers drawn plus the Mega Ball to win a prize of $10,000. Of these tickets, 12 tickets were purchased with the Megaplier option, multiplying the prize to $40,000, whereas 11 were sold in California, where the prize awarded for this drawing is $9,782.

The winning Mega Millions lottery numbers for the draw held on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, were 25, 29, 33, 41, and 44, with Mega Ball number 18 and Megaplier number 4. For detailed information and tips on how to win Mega Millions please visit our multi-state lotteries page. 

Each Mega Million ticket costs $2. For an additional $1 per ticket, you can get the Megaplier option that can multiply any non-jackpot won by up to 5 times, depending on the Megaplier number drawn that evening.

Currently, Mega Millions is offered for sale in  45 states, plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Fridays and Fridays at 11:00 pm Eastern Time.

Also if you'd like to bet on Mega Millions from the comfort of your home, Play Live Lottery with us!