(NEXSTAR) — Without a winner on Friday, the Mega Millions jackpot has grown enough to join the ranks of the largest grand prizes ever in the game’s history.
The jackpot has been building since June, when a ticket sold in Virginia won a $348 million prize. It marked the first true jackpot to be won after Mega Millions was overhauled earlier this year.
That means the current jackpot, estimated at $650 million with a cash value of $304.1 million as of Tuesday morning, is on track to be the largest-ever won since that April overhaul. With its growth after Friday’s drawing, the pot has surpassed a $648 million prize split by tickets sold in California and Georgia in 2013 to become the 10th largest in Mega Millions history.
- $1.602 billion: Aug. 8, 2023; Florida
- $1.537 billion: Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina
- $1.348 billion: Jan. 13, 2023; Maine
- $1.337 billion: July 29, 2022; Illinois
- $1.269 billion: Dec. 27, 2024; California
- $1.128 billion: March 26, 2024; New Jersey
- $1.050 billion: Jan. 22, 2021; Michigan
- $810 million: Sept. 10, 2024; Texas
- $656 million: Mar. 30, 2012; Illinois, Kansas, and Maryland
- Est. $650 million: Current
Should the jackpot grow by more than $6 million — which could happen even before Tuesday’s drawing — it could unseat a $656 million prize split by three tickets in 2012 and become the ninth-largest on record. (If you’re really curious, the jackpot ranks as the 20th largest across Powerball and Mega Millions.)
While your odds of winning the jackpot remain slim, the aforementioned changes to the game have improved your chances slightly. If you’re ready to put those odds to the test, here’s what to know about the updated version of Mega Millions.
Game overhaul changed how you play Mega Millions
Roughly a year ago, Mega Millions officials indicated changes were afoot for the nationally played lottery game. Those changes were unveiled earlier this year and enacted in April.
There are now fewer Mega Ball numbers — 24 instead of 25 — to select from, which improves your odds of winning any Mega Millions payout from 1 in 24 to 1 in 23. Officials have also removed the Megaplier (and the Just the Jackpot option available in some states) and replaced it with a built-in random multiplier.
If you win any non-jackpot prize, it is automatically multiplied by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x or 10x, depending on the built-in multiplier. That, in turn, increased the non-jackpot prize payout range to $10 to $10 million, up from $2 to $1 million. (The base prize is technically $5, but the built-in multiplier will at least double that.)
You can see the new prizes below compared to the current payouts:
The increased payouts are partially thanks to the rise in the cost of playing Mega Millions. A line of Mega Millions numbers will now set you back $5.
After the current jackpot is eventually won, the grand prize will reset to $50 million, a large increase over the previous starting point of $20 million.
Just like your odds of winning any payout have increased, so have your odds of winning the jackpot. Instead of having a roughly 1 in 302.58 million chance of hitting the Mega Millions jackpot, your odds are now about 1 in 290.47 million.
All in all, the changes were intended to improve odds, make the jackpot grow faster, and promote larger prizes, officials said.
As of early October, marking six months since the updates, officials said non-jackpot prizes have totaled $344.4 million for Mega Millions players. Players who had matched only the Mega Ball — which earns you the lowest possible payout of $10 — won $134 million over the same time frame.
“That’s nearly twice the $78.3 million total that would have been awarded across ALL eight non-jackpot prize tiers in the old game matrix, from the $1 million level on down,” officials said in a press release.
If you’re ready to try your luck at the jackpot, or any other Mega Millions payout, the next drawing is set for 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Tickets are $5 each and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
