The winning numbers for Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing were: 29, 63, 66, 7, 60 and a “Mega Ball” of 15. The jackpot grew to an estimated $830 million.
It would be the nation’s fourth-largest lottery prize of all time and the third-largest Mega Millions prize. The drawing took place at 11:00 PM Eastern Time.
“It takes a long time for this kind of jackpot to get that high, so we’re excited,” Mega Millions public information officer Maria Kilbane told CBS News.
The Mega Millions jackpot has grown so big because no one has matched all six numbers in the game since April 15th. That’s 28 consecutive draws without a jackpot winner. The lottery’s biggest payday was a $1.58 billion Powerball jackpot won in 2016.
Three big prizes have been won this year: a $426 million pot in California in January, a $128 million ticket in New York in March and a $110 million jackpot in Minnesota in April, according to Mega Millions.
The odds of winning the jackpot are very small: about 1 in 302.5 million. You have better odds of a smaller win, such as winning $1 million for matching five regular numbers but losing the Mega Ball. But even that is one in 12.6 million.
To put that into perspective, your lifetime chance of dying in a car accident, something to keep in mind when driving to the mini-mart for a lottery ticket, is one in 101, according to the non-profit National Security Council.
How much is the payment after tax?
Meanwhile, even if you beat the odds somehow, you won’t get $830 million. First, this is the amount for winners who take the annuity option, paid over 30 annual payments. But winners usually go for cash, which for this drawing would pay an estimated $488 million.
“Some people like the idea of having something consistent over time,” but in recent years “almost everyone has chosen the cash option prize,” Kilbane said.
And then there are federal taxes, which he said would leave $351 million in gains. State taxes could also reduce this amount depending on where the winner lives. It’s still a fortune, but a smaller fortune.
This also doesn’t take into account the possibility of someone else matching the winning numbers, meaning you’d have to split even those smaller winnings in half or more, depending on the number of lucky players.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands. The game is coordinated by state lotteries.