The huge Mega Millions jackpot continues to soar because nobody has matched all six numbers since April 15, when one lucky individual in Tennessee won a $20 million prize.
Tens of millions of $2 Mega Millions tickets have been sold since the April 15 drawing, but not a single one of them has matched the gold Mega Ball and the five white balls. Given that there is only a one in 302.6 million chance of a ticket matching all six numbers, it is not altogether surprising that none of the tickets did.
There were no winning tickets for the numbers 7-12-21-43-55 and Mega Ball 11 drawn on June 28, thus the jackpot will roll over to Friday’s draw. Lottery officials predict that the prize will be $360 million on July 1.
If a winner picks all six numbers tomorrow, they can choose to receive the whole $360 million over a 29-year annuitized payment schedule, or they can accept a one-time lump sum payment of $199.3 million. Federal and state taxes have not yet been deducted from either payout.
Play Boosts when Jackpots Get Bigger
In response to the pandemic, lottery administrators for the two most played games in the country, Mega Millions and Powerball, eliminated guaranteed minimum payouts. Lottery sales declined during the COVID-19 panic as a result of the closure of several lottery outlets in 2020 and the confinement of players to their homes.
The two interstate lottery games also stopped offering guaranteed jackpot increases between draws in addition to guaranteed minimums. Play, however, has made a comeback to lead 2019 revenue post-pandemic.
Over the past twelve months or more, lottery jackpots have been skyrocketing. Additionally, sales of lottery tickets usually increase when big jackpots are involved.
A Powerball player from Arizona won a game-changing $473.1 million prize in April. The jackpot was one of the top 20 biggest ones ever won in a US lottery.
The majority of players are well aware that hitting all six Mega Millions numbers is less likely to result in their death than being hit by falling airplane wreckage. The lottery has long been referred to as a levy on the poor by economists. Lotteries have been referred to as “a tax on stupidity” by French philosopher Voltaire, who went one step further.
Even those with advanced education regularly try their luck with a $2 Powerball or Mega Millions ticket despite the absurdly high chances.
In 2018, Jeff Greenfield, a five-time Emmy winner, stated in Politico, “As soon as the numbers get big enough, tens of millions of Americans will flock to their convenience stores for a virtually nonexistent chance to strike it very, very rich.”
Although lower jackpots would be life-changing sums for almost everyone, Mega Millions is a Scam That’s Totally Worth It author Greenfield claims the when the jackpots inch towards that half of a billion-dollar range, the temptation is simply too great for even the most knowledgeable dreamers.
“We seldom see enormous lineups and frantic news headlines when the jackpots reach, say, $40 million, even though a $40 million victory would significantly transform the lives of the majority of us — say, 99 percent — for the better. The attraction of the reward, however, becomes impossible to resist as the figures reach the half-billion-dollar range, Greenfield said.
Somebody Won The Powerball
Despite the practically impossible odds of winning the Mega Millions or Powerball jackpot, one person accomplished so this week.
According to Powerball, one winning ticket purchased in Vermont matched all six numbers drawn last night. The first winning Powerball jackpot in Vermont history was the $366.7 million hit.
The winner hasn’t been made public yet. Individuals cannot remain anonymous under Vermont lottery laws, but they can attempt to do so by receiving a reward through a trust.
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