OAN’s James Meyers
12:13 PM -Monday, March 25, 2024
The combined jackpots of the Powerball and Mega Millions continue to climb and now stand at almost $2 billion.
The estimated $800 million Powerball jackpot and the estimated $1.1 billion Mega Millions reward represent the first time that the two national lottery games have both increased in size at the same time.
Powerball said in a statement on Sunday, that its current jackpot was “quickly climbing the rankings as one of the game’s largest.”
On Monday evening, it is expected to reach up to $800 million.
Powerball also announced that Sunday’s prize was the second advertised jackpot to reach $800 million this year. There have been 35 consecutive drawings without a single winner as well.
Meanwhile, the Mega Millions prize ranks as the 5th largest in U.S. lottery history and is about half the size of the largest jackpot, a $2.04 billion Powerball prize was won in November 2022.
“There’s always an air of excitement around the country when the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots soar simultaneously,” said Gretchen Corbin, president of the Georgia Lottery Corporation and lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium.
The odds of matching all six numbers are 1 in 302.6 million and Powerball has just slightly better odds of 1 in 292.2 million.
However, millions of people do win smaller prizes that vastly range from $2 to $2 million, with players of both games having about a 1-in-4 chance of winning some sort of cash prize.
As for Mega Millions, the drawing is set for next Tuesday, with the jackpot’s cash value being approximately $525.8 million.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states plus the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C.
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