(Reuters) – An estimated $1.1 billion jackpot is up for grabs in the multistate Mega Millions drawing on Tuesday night, one of the richest jackpots in the lottery’s history.
The drawing, set for 11 p.m. EDT, is the 30th since the last Mega Millions winner hit the jackpot in April. The winner or winners must match the correct six double-digit numbers on a $2 ticket.
If there is a single winner on Tuesday, the lucky ticket holder can have the estimated jackpot paid out over 30 years, or receive an estimated $550.2 million lump sum payment.
The odds of winning are minuscule: A buyer of a single Mega Millions lottery ticket has about a 1-in-300 million chance of containing all the correct numbers.
The jackpot is among the highest Mega Millions prizes ever, topped only by a $1.537 billion jackpot that a single ticket holder in South Carolina won in 2018.
But Tuesday’s purse is only about half as the size of a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won by a single-ticket holder in California in November 2022. That ranks as the largest lottery prize total in U.S. history.
Mega Millions tickets are available in 45 U.S. states along with Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The five states that don’t participate are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Gerry Doyle)
