The headline-grabbing $1 billion jackpot level has been cracked in a lotto draw for the second time in approximately two months. The VA Lottery has provided some advice for customers who visit the more than 5,300 retail locations statewide to purchase Mega Million tickets.
To skip the long lines at convenience stores, make sure to purchase your tickets in advance. Alternatively, you can conveniently play the VA Lottery online, which offers a range of games including Mega Millions, Powerball, and instant win games.
A total of over 122,000 winning tickets were counted by lottery officials for the drawing on Friday, January 6th. Among them, there was a VA Lottery Mega Millions ticket from the Giant Food supermarket on Franklin Farm Road in Herndon that won $10,000. If you bought Mega Millions plays from there, make sure to check your numbers. The winning ticket successfully matched four out of the first five numbers and the gold Mega Ball.
On Friday night’s drawing, the fortunate combination of numbers that emerged victorious were 3-20-46-59-63, accompanied by the Mega Ball 13.
The Mega Millions drawings take place every Tuesday and Friday nights at 11 p.m. In the recent Friday draw, there were 122,000 winners in the state. However, the chances of correctly matching all six numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350. Regardless of your location in the country, the overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.
In total, Mega Millions is available in 45 states, along with the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands. However, it is not offered in Alabama, Utah, Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii.
VA Lottery Mega Millions is in all-time jackpot territory
The Mega Millions jackpot has been steadily increasing for close to three months since its last win on October 14th.
The current Mega Millions drawing on Tuesday showcases the third-highest jackpot in its history, as well as the fifth-largest lottery jackpot in the United States to date.
The majority of Mega Millions and Powerball customers opt for “easy-pick” numbers, where the numbers are randomly chosen by the terminal at a retail counter.
The games are specifically designed to allow customers to play their preferred numbers too.
Lottery officials confirm that neither option is considered “luckier,” as the odds remain unchanged.
The odds and breakdown of prizes are as follows:
- The odds of winning the jackpot by matching all five numbers and the Mega Ball are 1 in 302,575,350.
- The prize for matching five correct numbers, excluding the Mega Ball, is $1 million, with odds of winning at 1 in 12,607,306.
- The prize for matching the Mega Ball and four numbers correctly is $10,000, with odds of winning being 1 in 931,001.
- The prize of $500 will be awarded if you correctly guess four numbers, excluding the Mega Ball, which has odds of 1 in 38,792.
- There is a chance of 1 in 14,547 to win $200 if you correctly guess the Mega Ball along with any three numbers.
- You have a chance of winning $10 if you match the Mega Ball number along with any two numbers (1-in-693) or any three numbers (1-in-606).
- The probability of getting the Mega Ball correct along with any other number is 1-in-89, and the prize for this is $4.
- The correct Mega Ball has a 1-in-37 chance, and if you guess it correctly, you win $2.
Tips for Tuesday
To avoid any tension caused by winning, make sure to participate in pools when the jackpots reach a substantial amount.
- Maintain a precise record of individuals who contribute funds for a specific lottery, including their respective monetary contributions.
- Make sure to distribute pictures or duplicates of the group’s tickets to all individuals in your pool prior to the drawing.
- To avoid any conspiracy theories, it is advisable to make your personal purchase for the pool and additional items separately, either at a different time or from a different retailer.
It is important to spare some time to carefully examine your ticket for smaller prizes too. Every year, many VA Lottery customers unintentionally discard millions of dollars by overlooking non-jackpot tickets or failing to notice a scratch-ticket victory.
If there are any prizes left unclaimed, they will be contributed to Virginia’s Literary Fund. This fund aims to provide low-interest loans specifically for public school construction, renovations, and technology upgrades.
Keep in mind that there are two reasons why you won’t be considered a billionaire in a technical sense.
- Taxes, of course
- Furthermore, the sum of $1.1 billion is received as an annuity. However, if you choose the cash alternative, the payout amounts to $568.7 million prior to any tax deductions.
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