Lottery players will have another shot Tuesday night at a massive Mega Millions prize that ranks among the largest jackpots in U.S. history.
The estimated $1.58 billion prize has been gradually building for months thanks to 31 straight drawings without a jackpot winner. The last time someone won the game’s top prize was April 18.
Each drawing without a winner pushes the prize closer to the record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot that someone in California won last year. The second largest in size was in 2016, when the Powerball jackpot reached a nearly identical amount of $1.586 billion.
Mega Millions jackpot winners are so rare thanks to odds of one in 302.6 million.
The $1.58 billion payout would go to a winner who opts for an annuity, doled out over 30 years. But people usually prefer a lump sum option, which for Tuesday's jackpot would be an estimated $783.3 million.
The money would be subject to federal taxes. Many states also tax lottery winnings.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Here is a look at the 10 largest U.S. jackpots that have been won and the states where the winning tickets were sold:
- $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California)
- $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
- $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
- $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023 (one ticket, from California)
- $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
- $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)
- $758.7 million, Powerball, Aug. 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)
- $754.6 million, Powerball, Feb. 6, 2023 (one ticket, from Washington state)
