For the first time in 2024, someone hit all six numbers in a Mega Millions drawing.
Tuesday's drawing marked the end of a 15-week streak without a winner after the multistate lottery went 31 drawings without a winner. The jackpot for Tuesday's drawing reached $1.13 billion, marking the lottery's fifth-largest prize ever.
The winning ticket was sold to someone in New Jersey.
The winning numbers were the white balls 7, 11, 22, 29 and 38, and the gold Mega Ball 4.
“Congratulations to the New Jersey Lottery for selling a jackpot-winning ticket in Tuesday’s $1.13 billion Mega Millions drawing,” said Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium. “We celebrate our new jackpot winner, as well as all the prizes won and dollars raised for good causes during this exciting jackpot run.”
The winner has the choice of taking $1.13 billion spread over 30 annual payments, or an immediate lump sum of $535.5 million.
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Mega Millions also has prizes ranging from $2 to $2 million, and the odds of winning a smaller prize are about 1 in 24. There were nearly 3.7 million winning tickets for smaller prizes on Wednesday. Among the smaller prizes, 13 tickets on Tuesday hit all five white balls, which pays out at least $1 million.
Between Powerball and Mega Millions, Mega Millions is the toughest lottery to win with 1-in-302-million odds. The lottery is played in 45 states and Washington, D.C. Drawings are held twice a week.
Tuesday's drawing marked the first time since 2020 that a winning Mega Millions ticket has been sold in New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Powerball hasn't sold a winning ticket since New Year's Day. Tonight's jackpot for Powerball has reached an estimated $865 million.
