Powerball Jackpot Grows to $800 Million and Mega Millions to $1.1 Billion After No Winner
It's the first time in the history of lottery in the US that two national lottery games have grown so large simultaneously, with an estimated $1.1 million Mega Million prize and an $800 million Powerball jackpot. Both the games found no winners on March 25, 2024. The Multi-state Lottery Association announced that nobody had bought the ticket bearing the six winning numbers from Monday's latest Powerball drawing: 19-7-68-53-11-23. Tickets from both the lotteries are sold in all 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, as well as the US Virgin Islands.
In the case of both lotteries, the winner must match the correct six numbers on the US$2 ticket. According to ABC News, this is the first time that both games have offered prizes topping $800 million since the game's inception decades ago. The main reason for the prizes to grow so big was the fact that nobody won the jackpot since December 8, 2023.
"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. It's not a surprise that nobody has been able to bag the jackpot, as the odds of doing so are very poor. For Mega Millions, the odds of matching all six numbers are 1 in 302.6 million while Powerball has slightly better odds of 1 in 292.2 million.
As per lottery officials, after each win when the jackpot resets at $20 million, total sales cover less than 10% of all the possible number combinations. As the price continues to climb the sales increase dramatically but usually cover only about half of the possible combinations, via ABC. Part of the reason why the sales increase with the jackpot is because people think that the odds of winning increase if nobody wins. However, the truth is every drawing is independent and has nothing to do with the previous drawing.
According to sources, millions of people end up winning smaller prizes ranging from $2 million to $20 million. It's also important to note that regardless of how massive the jackpot amount becomes, the odds of winning it, never change. It's also important to note that if the winner of the jackpot opts for the direct and upfront pay, then they will receive only a $525.8 million cash prize out of the $1.1 billion. For Powerball, the $800 million annuity prize means an estimated $384.8 million cash prize. Anybody who wins the ludicrous amount will also be subjected to heavy federal taxes as well as state taxes. There's also a pretty good chance that multiple people will end up winning the massive amount, which would split the prize as well as the taxes.
The last drawing was the 35th consecutive drawing with no big winner of the game, which holds three weekly drawings. The next drawing is scheduled for Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Mega Million number will be drawn in a TV studio in Atlanta while the Powerball will be drawn at a Florida Lottery studio in Tallahassee.