Has the Mega Millions Jackpot Found a Lucky Winner?

A Mega Millions jackpot worth $800 million has been won by a lucky ticketholder in Texas, following Tuesday night’s drawing. The winner matched all five white ball numbers and the gold Mega Ball.

Other tickets sold in California, Florida, New York, and Washington matched the five white ball numbers, but did not include the jackpot-winning Mega Ball. While excitement grows, the identity of the Texas winner remains a mystery, as the state allows lottery winners to opt for anonymity, protecting them from unwanted attention.

This massive jackpot is the result of a prolonged winless streak, making it the first Mega Millions jackpot won since June 4, when another ticket in Illinois claimed $552 million. For the latest drawing, players had the option of a cash payout of $404.2 million.

This year has seen only two Mega Millions jackpots won prior to this. In March, a $1.1 billion ticket purchased in New Jersey still remains unclaimed, with winners in New Jersey permitted one year to come forward.

The Mega Millions lottery operates across 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with drawings held at 11 p.m. ET on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia. Each ticket is priced at $2, and half the proceeds stay in the state where the ticket was purchased.

As for the odds of winning, they remain incredibly daunting—one in 302,575,350 to win the jackpot, while any prize sees odds of 1 in 24. The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever recorded topped $1.6 billion, sold in Florida last August.

The winning numbers from the Tuesday, September 10, 2024 drawing were 1-2-16-24-66, with the Mega Ball being 6 and a Megaplier of 4X. Remarkably, matching just the first five numbers secures a minimum prize of $1 million.

Looking into the future, Mega Millions drawings continuously draw attention, keeping the excitement alive among players eagerly hoping for a life-changing win.