What are the winning numbers for Tuesday’s $250 million Mega Millions jackpot?
The Mega Millions jackpot continues to grow after there was no winning ticket in the last drawing. Here are the winning numbers for tonight’s draw.
In March, a lucky winning ticket from New Jersey won the $1.128 billion jackpot, only the sixth time in the lottery’s history that the prize exceeded the one-billion mark. While not quite as big, the most recent whopper of a jackpot was won on June 10 with one lucky ticketholder fetching $552 million.
That reset the jackpot to its starting amount of $20 million which has been steadily growing without anyone yet beating the astronomical odds to win by matching all five winning numbers plus the Mega Ball drawn.
What are the winning numbers for Tuesday, 29 October?
The winning numbers today are 16-22-26-36-56 and 1 Mega Ball. The Megaplier is 4x.
What are the biggest Mega Millions jackpots ever?
The 8 August 2023 jackpot was the fifth to have exceeded the $1 billion mark in Mega Millions history, and at $1.58 billion became the biggest to be won since the lottery began.
“There’s always an air of excitement around the country when Mega Millions jackpots soar,” Gretchen Corbin, the lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said. “The growing jackpot is a source of entertainment and winnings for players while generating important dollars for the good causes supported by each lottery.”
The second-largest ever Mega Millions jackpot win was in October 2018, when a player in South Carolina claimed a $1.537 billion prize.
At a glance: the six $1 billion-plus Mega Millions jackpots
- $1.58 billion: won on 8 August 2023
- $1.537 billion: won on 23 October 2018
- $1.348 billion: won on 13 January 2023
- $1.337 billion: won on 29 July 2022
- $1.128 billion: won on 26 March 2024
- $1.05 billion: won on 22 January 2021
Mega Millions: how to play
A ticket costs $2. To play, you have to choose six numbers from two separate pools: five ‘white’ numbers between 1 and 70, plus a ‘Mega Ball’ number from 1 to 25. To secure the jackpot, all six numbers must match those that are drawn.
Jackpot winners can receive their money in annual installments (the annuity option) or as a lump sum (the cash option). While annuity recipients get the jackpot in full, those who opt to be paid up front are given a smaller sum. Winnings are pre-tax amounts.
Smaller cash prizes are also available for players who correctly guess some, but not all, of the numbers drawn. In some states, players can pay an extra $1 to multiply non-jackpot winnings by two, three, four or five times, depending on the ‘Megaplier’ number selected before the draw itself.
Mega Millions: prizes and odds of winning
- Five balls and the Mega Ball – jackpot (1 in 302,575,350 chance)
- Five balls - $1,000,000 (1 in 12,607,306)
- Four balls and the Mega Ball - $10,000 (1 in 931,001)
- Four balls - $500 (1 in 38,792)
- Three balls and the Mega Ball – $200 (1 in 14,547)
- Three balls - $10 (1 in 606)
- Two balls and the Mega Ball - $10 (1 in 693)
- One ball and the Mega Ball - $4 (1 in 89)
- The Mega Ball - $2 (1 in 37)
Where in the US can you play Mega Millions?
Tickets are sold in every state in the US except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah. You can also play in the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. Mega Millions draws are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT.