MEGA-MILLIONS: Fourth Largest Jackpot in History Up Tuesday Night
December 15, 2013
By: Dave Rogers
Estimated jackpot for the Dec. 17 draw is $550 million.
If you seldom play the lottery, as in my case, this may be the time.
Although the odds are 256 million to one, or thereabouts, the excitement of maybe, possibly, winning are worth the price of a buck.
The excitement continues to build as no single ticket matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball in Friday night's Mega Millions drawing. As a result, the current estimated jackpot for the Dec. 17 draw is $550 million.
At that level, it will be the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot in history and the fourth-largest jackpot ever experienced in the United States. The current record jackpot is $656 million, shared by players in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland on March 30, 2012.
Nine more $1 million winners came out of Friday's drawing, bringing the total to 39 since the new game was launched in October.
The $1 million second-tier prize is a new feature of the game -- substantially larger than the previous second prize of $250,000. The latest $1 million winning tickets, which matched the first five numbers (19, 24, 26, 27 and 70) but not the Mega Ball number (12), were sold in Colorado, Connecticut and New Jersey, plus two each in Florida, Michigan and New York.
In less than two months, players in 16 different states have won at the $1 million level. Two lucky players added the Megaplier to their ticket for an extra $1 and were rewarded with super-sized prizes of $5 million and $3 million.
Mega Millions tickets cost $1.00 per play.
Players may pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers - five different numbers from 1 to 75 and one number from 1 to 15 - or select Easy Pick. You win the jackpot by matching all six winning numbers in a drawing.
The jackpots start at $15 million and grow by a minimum of $5 million per draw each time the jackpot rolls.
What if you win the jackpot?
Annuity option: The Mega Millions annuity is paid out as one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments. Each payment is 5 percent bigger than the previous one. The lottery used to pay the jackpot in equal installments, but players expressed concern that the cost of living would be increasing while their payments were not. We changed to payments that increase each year to help protect winners? lifestyle and purchasing power.
Cash option: A one-time, lump-sum payment that is equal to all the cash in the Mega Millions jackpot prize pool.
In addition to the jackpot, there are other prizes ranging from $1 to $1,000,000*.
I've got my fingers crossed. How about you????
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