With players facing tough odds, it’ll be no surprise if the jackpot keeps rolling.
After a year of huge jackpots, lottery players are once again eyeing a more than $1 billion jackpot.
The winning numbers for Mega Millions on Tuesday were 7-13-14-15-18 and Mega Ball 9. The Megaplier was 3.
No word yet on whether someone won the jackpot — or if there’ll be no winner for the 25th time in a row. The jackpot has been rolling since Oct. 14.
While the $1.1 billion estimated jackpot is what’s getting players’ attention, that’s the annuity prize, which would be paid out over 29 years. Most winners want their money right away and take the cash option, which for Tuesday is $568.7 million. Plus, a chunk of the winnings would go toward federal and in some places, state, taxes .
The past year saw a miniature Golden Age of lottery jackpots, including the record-breaking Powerball prize of more than $2 billion. While the Mega Millions jackpot is half that, it’ll be no surprise if it keeps rolling — players face dismal odds of one in 302.6 billion.
Changes to Mega Millions and Powerball in recent years have led to huge jackpots, with most of the top 10 largest prizes won since 2017.
What are the largest US lottery jackpots ever won?
When and where is Mega Millions played?
Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. Eastern (10 p.m. Central Time, 9 p.m. Mountain Time and 8 p.m. Pacific Time).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.