Thu, Aug 18, 2022
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What Are the Biggest Lottery Jackpot Prizes in History Now That Mega Millions is $840 Million?

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U.S. Mega Millions Powerball Lottery

The Mega Millions jackpot is now at its second-highest prize in history. If nobody wins the Mega Millions grand prize of $850 million on 1/19/21, then the following jackpot will likely top $1 billion for the second time in its history.

The Powerball jackpot is now $730 million after nobody won the $640 million on Saturday. The new Powerball jackpot is now the fourth-highest in that game's history, and it's just 28 million dollars behind the next-highest prize ever won.

As ridiculously-large as both of those jackpots are, if you added them together, they'd still be just the second-highest jackpot for Powerball, and would barely be the top Mega Millions jackpot ever. Individually, they're both still in the top five all-time jackpots of their respective games, though.

Mega Millions Multi-State Lottery
Mega Millions is one of two multi-state lottery games. Here are tickets from multiple states—Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi—bought in February and March. Mega Millions is played on Tuesdays and Fridays. The other multi-state lottery game is Powerball, which is played on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Scott McDonald/Newsweek

This brings up the question: What are the biggest lottery prizes from the two biggest games in the United States? Here are your answers for each game.

The top 10 Mega Millions Jackpots to date:
Amount/Date/Winning Tickets

  1. $1.537 billion 10/23/2018 1-SC
  2. $850 million CURRENT JACKPOT
  3. $656 million 3/30/2012 3-IL, 1-KS, 1-MD
  4. $648 million 12/17/2013 2-CA, 1-GA
  5. $543 million 7/24/2018 1-CA
  6. $536 million 7/8/2016 1-IN
  7. $533 million 3/30/2018 1-NJ
  8. $522 million 6/07/2019 1-CA
  9. $451 million 1/5/2018 1-FL
  10. $414 million 3/18/2014 2-FL, 1-MD

Mega Millions is a multi-state lottery every Tuesday and Friday night, and it is one of America's two biggest lottery jackpot games. Mega Millions jackpots start at $20 million, and other prizes pay from $1 million to $2 million or more with a Megaplier. Tickets are $2 per line, and odds of winning with a $2 Mega Millions ticket are one in 303 million. For more information on Mega Millions, or to check your past numbers, visit its website.

Tuesday night's 01/19/21 jackpot is worth $850 million, with a cash-value option of $628.2 million.

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Here are the all-time top Powerball jackpot prizes

1. $1.586 billion (01/13/2016)
Winning tickets sold in California, Florida and Tennessee

2. $768.4 million (03/27/2019)
Single ticket sold in Wisconsin

3. $758.7 million (08/23/2017)
Single ticket sold in Massachusetts

4. $730 million — CURRENT JACKPOT

5. $687.8 million (10/27/2018)
Two winning tickets were drawn, one sold in Iowa and one sold in New York

6. $590.5 million (05/18/2013)
Single ticket sold in Florida

7. $587.5 million (11/28/2012)
Two winning tickets were drawn, one sold in Missouri and one sold in Arizona

8. $564.1 million (02/11/2015)
Winning tickets sold in Texas, North Carolina and Puerto Rico

Powerball is a multi-state lottery played every Wednesday and Saturday, and one of America's two biggest lottery jackpot games. Powerball jackpots start at $20 million, and other prizes pay from $1 million to $2 million with a Power Play. Tickets are $2. You can check the numbers for tonight, or any past winning numbers, on the official Powerball website.

Wednesday night's 01/20/21 Powerball jackpot is estimated at $730 million, with a cash option worth $546.0 million.

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