Mega Millions’ third-largest payout has been the fourth-largest lottery jackpot in US history.
Austin The jackpot prize for the Tuesday, July 26 Mega Millions drawing has climbed to an estimated annuitized $830 million as sales continue to rise. The jackpot is the third-largest in the game’s history and the fourth-largest in the history of the United States Lottery System. Tuesday’s drawing has a monetary value of $487.9 million, according to estimates. The anticipated annuitized jackpot amount for the Friday, July 29 drawing will be $1.025 billion if there is no jackpot winner for tonight’s Mega Millions drawing.
Executive director Gary Grief of the Texas Lottery says that Mega Millions sales are “continuing to be strong for the Texas Lottery during this jackpot run,” generating much-needed funds for the state’s public schools. Our fingers are crossed that a Texas Lottery® player will take home the prize on Tuesday night’s drawing,” says the Texas Lottery. Most importantly, we want to stress the importance of playing responsibly to all of our gamers. One ticket is all it takes to win.”
The current Mega Millions jackpot run began with an estimated annuitized $20 million for the April 19 drawing, and the drawing on Tuesday will be the 29th in that run. Mega Millions hasn’t had a jackpot of this size since the Jan. 22, 2021 drawing, when an out-of-state player scooped up an estimated $1.05 billion – the game’s second-largest jackpot reward.
After joining the Mega Millions lottery in 2003, the state of Texas has had 13 jackpot winners. An annuitized $227 million jackpot was won in September 2019 by a Leander resident, making it the highest reward ever paid out to a single Texas Lottery player in the state’s history.
Only five Texas Lottery players have won second-tier Mega Millions rewards of $1 million or more, including two during this year’s jackpot run. For the drawing on May 13, a Houston resident claimed a second-tier prize of $1,000,510, while an Ingram resident claimed a second-tier prize of $2 million for the drawing on June 17.
Picking five numbers from a pool of 70 and one Mega Ball number from a second pool of 25 numbers is how you play Mega Millions. A player must match all six numbers selected, including the Mega Ball, in order to win the Mega Millions jackpot. Those who have fewer numbers in common with the winning ticket may miss out on the big prize, but they can take home a prize anyway. Currently, Mega Millions has a $20 million jackpot and a $1 million second-tier prize (Match 5+0). Non-jackpot winnings can be multiplied by 2, 3, 4, or 5 times using the Megaplier® function, which costs an additional $1 every Play.
Each Tuesday and Friday, at 10:12 p.m. CT, a drawing is shown. More than 20,000 Texas Lottery merchants sell Mega Millions tickets to Texas Lottery players around the state. The next Mega Millions drawing will take place at 9:45 p.m. CT on Tuesday, July 26, and tickets will be sold until then. One million dollars can be awarded to the merchant that sold the winning Mega Millions ticket.
Texas Lottery Facts and Figures
A total of $35 billion in state funds have been raised and $76 billion in prizes have been given away since the Texas Lottery’s first ticket was sold in 1992. The Foundation School Fund in Texas has received about $29.2 billion from the Texas Lottery since 1997. State services, like the Fund for Veterans’ Assistance, benefit from certain Texas Lottery income. A total of $187 million has been donated by the Texas Lottery since the debut of the first scratch ticket game for Texas veterans in 2009.
To keep lottery participants entertained, the Texas Lottery offers a variety of fun games such as Powerball and Mega Millions as well as Lotto Texas and All or Nothing. Visit us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, or at texaslottery.com for more information about our promotions. PLAY SOLELY AND RESPONSIBLY.