Mega Millions jackpot closes in on $1 billion after latest drawing

Mega Millions’ jackpot edged closer to the billion-dollar mark after its latest drawing brought no grand-prize winner. The lottery said Tuesday night’s drawing didn’t have any players with tickets matching all of the numbers, pushing the jackpot to an annuitized $825 million.As a one-time cash payout, it amounts to $382.2 million.The jackpot is poised to become Mega Millions’ fourth grand-prize win of 2024 if someone lands it before the end of the year, according to the lottery.The three jackpot wins that Mega Millions has seen so far this year occurred in mid-September, early June and late March.

They were worth $810 million, $552 million and $1.128 billion, respectively.The $1.128 billion grand prize, won in March and still unclaimed, is the lottery’s largest of the year so far and its only one to break 10-figures in 2024 to date, according to Mega Millions.The currently up-for-grabs $825 million jackpot “would be the largest prize ever won in December and the seventh largest in Mega Millions history” in the event someone matches all six numbers this month, Mega Millions said. Drawings conducted since September, when the Mega Millions jackpot was most recently won, have produced a multitude of lower-level lottery winners.Fifty-one people have scored windfalls of at least $1 million, and others have received smaller sums, the lottery reported.Mega Millions plans to conduct its next drawing for the $825 million grand prize on Friday evening.

The chances of landing the nine-figure jackpot are 1 in about 302.6 million.Fellow lottery Powerball also has a jackpot rolling, though it is currently considerably smaller than Mega Millions’.The jackpot for Powerball hovered around $69 million ahead of its Wednesday night drawing.Its cash value was $32.2 million, according to that lottery....