Mega Millions jackpot climbs to more than $1 billion for Friday's drawing

Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times on Dec 26, 2024

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A billion dollars could be the perfect way to ring in the New Year.

No one scored big on Christmas Eve when the last Mega Millions drawing pushed the jackpot closer to 10 figures, so now it has ballooned to at least $1.15 billion, the fifth-largest prize in the game's history.

The next drawing is Friday and if one lucky person wins, they would net a cool $516 million if taken as a lump-sum payment, according to the game organizers.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302 million, according to lottery organizers, and the last Mega Millions jackpot was won in Texas on Sept. 10 for $810 million. Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Friday's drawing is at 8 p.m.

Any tickets that match all six numbers will have up to a year to claim the prize.

Last December, someone purchased one of two winning Mega Millions tickets at a Chevron gas station in Encino with a prize of $197.5 million.

The person had a year to claim their prize but that deadline has since rolled by and the majority of the money was refunded to other states that contributed to the pot, officials said, adding that a portion of the money also went to California schools.

In April, the price of a Mega Millions ticket will jump from $2 to $5. Game organizers say the odds of winning will improve, but did not have details on how that would work.

The biggest lottery prize ever won in the United States was won by a Californian in 2022, when Edwin Castro purchased a $2 Powerball ticket at an Altadena gas station and won the $2.04 billion jackpot. He has since purchased multimillion-dollar homes in the Hollywood Hills and elsewhere.