Did Anyone Win The $1.6 Billion Mega Millions Prize? The Jackpot Set To Hit $2 Billion If No One Wins
Did anyone win the Mega Millions $1.6 million prize?
After Tuesday’s drawing, millions of Americans who bought tickets are trying to find out if anyone matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball — and they may have to wait just a little bit. Lottery officials generally do not announce until early the next day if there’s been a winner, or multiple winners, so the answer is expected someone early on Wednesday morning.
While America waits to find out if there is a new billionaire, lottery losers are already looking forward to the next drawing and the potential of reaching an unprecedented $2 billion. As ABC News noted, that would mean the winner would actually get a 10-figure sum, something that’s never happened before.
“That jackpot could soar to $2 billion if there’s no winner, according to the Maryland and Texas Lotteries,” the report noted. “That means the lump-sum payout likely would rise to more than $1.1 billion.”
The previous lump-sum payouts, including for the $1.6 billion drawing on Tuesday, failed to top the billion-dollar mark, even though Tuesday’s drawing was the highest lottery prize of all time.
As the Mega Millions losing streak continues — it has now been since July since anyone won — the odds of someone winning have grown higher and higher. There are a total of 302.5 million different possible combinations of numbers, and the website Lotto Report noted that 280 million tickets were sold for Friday’s drawing, so the sales for Tuesday are likely to be even higher. The odds that the winning ticket has been sold was expected to top 50 percent, experts noted.
If no one win the $1.6 billion Mega Millions prize and it does increase to $2 billion, it could be almost assured that someone will win. Ticket sales have exploded, with several states reaching all-time highs in sales, so there is a chance that all the combinations could be sold in the subsequent drawing.
Even if someone did win the $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot, there’s a chance America will never get to meet the newest billionaire. At least four states give winners the option of remaining anonymous, and experts said there are some other measures winners can take in other states to conceal their identity.
Step 1. Try to stay anonymous for as long as possible. And find a good lawyer. https://t.co/3y4tNAQQrk
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 24, 2018
There are likely millions of lottery losers hoping that no one won the $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot, but they will have to wait until Wednesday morning to find out if they’ll have a chance to try again for $2 billion.
