Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 17
ABC7 News: A massive prize currently estimated at $970 million ($439.9 million cash) is on tap for the next drawing on Christmas Eve.
The jackpot rolled again after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Friday night – the white balls 2, 20, 51, 56 and 67, plus the gold Mega Ball 19.
If won at that level, it would be the largest prize ever won in December and the seventh largest in Mega Millions history!
Thirteen Mega Millions jackpots have been won during December since the game began in 2002. Three were won in the days after Christmas, while the other 10 were won before Christmas. There has never been a jackpot win on Christmas Day, although over the years drawings have been conducted on Christmas six times – in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2020.
The Mega Millions jackpot was last won at $810 million in Texas on September 10.
Before that September 10 prize in the Lone Star State, the Mega Millions jackpot was won only twice earlier this year. A $552 million windfall was awarded to an Illinois online player on June 4, and a whopping $1.128 billion prize still awaits a ticket-holder in New Jersey; no one has yet come forward to claim that jackpot from March 26. If not claimed, this ticket will expire on March 26, 2025, and the unpaid prize will revert back to each participating Mega Millions jurisdiction.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, according to Mega Millions.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 for one play.
