By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America
The Powerball jackpot now stands at an estimated $1.7 billion and is one of the largest lottery prizes in U.S. history. The lottery group will be drawing the 4th-largest jackpot ever on Christmas Eve. The record U.S. jackpot is $2.04 billion from back in 2022. The odds of winning Wednesday's jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. One math professor says those odds are equivalent to selecting one marked dollar bill from a stack 19 miles high. Those unfavorable odds are by design to help the lottery create billion-dollar jackpots. There are still other million-dollar prizes that players can win.
Mega Millions players will get slightly better odds and should start seeing more billion-dollar jackpots, but at a cost — literally — with tickets for the multistate lottery more than doubling in price from $2 to $5. The new ticket price is in place for Tuesday's drawing. Lottery officials are betting that the swollen jackpots they're expecting will catch the public's attention and lead to an accompanying surge in sales. The higher ticket price means the jackpot can start at $50 million, rather than the previous $20 million, and the grand prize is expected to grow more quickly.
Remember this moment because it probably won't last: A U.S. lottery jackpot is projected to soar above $1 billion, and that's still a big deal. Friday's Mega Millions drawing is worth an estimated $1.15 billion. The prize has evoked headlines across the country, despite the nation's top 10 jackpots already having boasted billion-dollar payouts. Jonathan Cohen is the author of the book "For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America." He says he expects jackpots to continue to grow in size. Larger payouts attract more media attention, increase ticket sales and bring in new players.
Americans still dreaming of a really big Christmas present can keep that dream alive during Friday's Mega Millions drawing for a jackpot worth an estimated $1.15 billion. Friday's jackpot will potentially be the fifth largest in the game's history. Mega Millions tickets are $2 a piece. But the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, and the odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24, according to lottery officials. Tickets for the game are sold in 45 states, along with Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The cost of a Mega Millions lottery ticket will soon more than double, but officials said they're confident players won't mind paying more after changes that will lead to larger prizes and more frequent winners. Lottery officials announced Monday that it will cost $5 to play Mega Millions beginning in April. That is up from the current $2 per ticket. Along with the high price, officials plan changes leading to improved jackpot odds, more frequent giant prizes and larger payouts. Mega Millions and its lottery compatriot Powerball are sold in 45 states as well as the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is sold in Puerto Rico. Powerball doesn't plan to increases prices.
An estimated $1.1 billion Mega Millions jackpot drawing has people lined up at convenience stores across the country to buy tickets. Theirs are longshot hopes of winning a massive prize, but the owners of shops and gas stations selling the tickets also have a chance at a big-figure bonus. State lotteries usually reward business owners who sell winning jackpot tickets with thousands of dollars or even up to $1 million, even before those giant prizes are claimed. The drawing Tuesday night is the fifth-largest ever.
