WASHINGTON — The Mega Millions jackpot prize continues to grow, with no winner getting all six numbers right in Tuesday night's $441 million drawing.
But there are three new millionaires after the latest drawing. All three tickets had five correct numbers, meaning their owners are able to claim the game's second-highest prize level.
One ticket, sold in Florida, is worth $3 million because it included the optional "Megaplier" bonus. The other two, sold in Arizona and California, won $1 million each.
The ticket from Arizona was sold at a Phoenix Safeway, at 4747 E Elliot Rd.
The winning numbers were 31, 35, 53, 54 and 55 with a gold Mega Ball of 24.
According to the Mega Millions website, 898,816 winning tickets were sold in total, ranging from single-digit prizes up to the three million-dollar winners.
The jackpot now sits at an estimated $476 million, with a cash payout option of $256 million. The next drawing is scheduled for Friday, April 14.
If it's won on Friday, Mega Millions says it will be the 13th largest jackpot in the game's history.
The buildup to the nearly half-billion dollar prize comes after a historic set of jackpot lottery wins earlier this year.
In January, the Mega Millions jackpot was won a total of four times, including a whopping $1.34 billion prize won in Maine. The month set a record for the lottery game, which had never seen four wins in a single month. Since the last January jackpot win on Jan. 31, there have been 13.2 million winning tickets — just no jackpot winners.
What are my chances of winning the Mega Millions?
The game's odds are 1 in 302.6 million.
Lucky winners can choose an annuity with annual payments over 29 years. Winners almost always take the cash option, which for Tuesday night’s drawing would have been around $170 million.
What are the largest US lottery jackpots ever won?
- $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California)
- $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
- $1.35 billion Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
- $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
- $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)
- $758.7 million, Powerball, Aug. 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)
- $731.1 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021 (one ticket, from Maryland)
- $699.8 million, Powerball, Oct. 4, 2021 (one ticket, from California)