DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – After a long period of relatively insignificant winnings, US lottery players now have a choice of games that offer combined jackpots of more than $ 1 billion.
The Mega Millions Tuesday night draw jackpot rose to $ 615 million, and the maximum prize in the Powerball game reached $ 550 million before Wednesday’s draw.
It has been almost two years since the two national lottery games offered such huge prizes and only the second time that the two jackpots reached $ 500 million.
The Mega Millions Grand Prix designed is the eighth largest in the history of the United States, and the Powerball jackpot is the 12th largest. Both still pale in comparison to the biggest prize, a $ 1.58 billion Powerball jackpot won by three players in 2016.
Lottery prizes have been growing more slowly since last spring, when employees reduced guaranteed minimums and stopped promising specific increases because the coronavirus caused sales to decline.
Carole Gentry, a spokesman for Maryland Lottery and Gaming, said on Monday that the prizes are now huge, mainly because it has been months since anyone has won one of the prizes. But Gentry also speculated that more people were buying tickets because “it is something fun to focus on for the new year”, causing prizes to increase more quickly.
As much fun as it is to play, people should realize that their chances of winning big prizes are incredibly small. The chances of winning the Powerball jackpot are one in 292.2 million, and the odds are even worse for Mega Millions, one in 302.5 million.
The jackpots promoted by the lotteries also refer to the winners who choose an annuity, in which the prizes are paid over 30 years. Almost all winners opt for the cash option, which for Mega Millions would now be estimated at $ 451.8 million and for Powerball it is $ 411.4 million.
Mega Millions and Powerball are played in 45 states, as well as in Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands. Powerball is also offered in Puerto Rico.