Mega Millions Jackpot Hits $58 Million As July 18 Numbers Come Up Short

The Mega Millions numbers drawn July 18 again failed to produce a jackpot winner, and like the previous drawing, there was just one second-prize, million-dollar winner this time, even though the total number of ticket sales showed an uptick from recent summer drawings.

The sales figure of 16,163,932 was the highest since June 13, a drawing in which one ticket sold in Michigan won a $66 million jackpot, and over 19 million Mega Millions tickets were sold. The relatively healthy sales number brought the total number of Mega Millions tickets sold this year to 1,329,027,838 across 57 drawings in 2014.

The lone million dollar ticket, matching the first five numbers but not the Mega Ball, was sold in Oregon. There were also 18 third-prize tickets sold for the July 18 Mega Millions drawing. Each of those tickets carries a $5,000 payout, except in California where that state’s pari-mutuel payout system causes non-jackpot prizes to vary with each twice-weekly drawing.

The two third-prize winners in California in the July 18 drawing won prizes of $7,947 this time around. In other drawings, the California payouts have been less than the standard $5,000. It all depends on how many tickets are actually sold in the state for a particular drawing.

In total, there was $2,881,875 in prize Mega Millions prize money won in Friday’s drawing, distributed across 1,092,837 winning tickets. That means 6.8 percent of all tickets sold were redeemable for at least a minimum $1 prize.

The Mega Millions jackpot now rises to an estimated $58 million for the next drawing, to be held Tuesday, July 22. Of course, as always, the advertised jackpot figure is never actually the amount a winner receives. Federal taxes alone take about 25 percent before the winner ever sees a dime.

For example, if someone wins Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot, the total amount he or she would receive in a state that charges no tax on lottery winnings would be $43.5 million, over 30 years.

Was your ticket one of the winners in Friday’s drawing. Check your Mega Millions numbers against this sequence, drawn at 10:59 pm in Atlanta, Georgia:

5 — 8 — 59 — 65 — 72 Mega Ball 3

If a winner of next Tuesday’s jackpot elects to take the payout in one lump sum, the “cash value” of the jackpot is $33.8 million — or $25.35 million after federal taxes.