Lottery News: Mega Millions Jackpot Soars To $120 Million, Powerball Arrives In Puerto Rico

The Mega Millions lottery saw its 11th consecutive drawing without a jackpot winner Tuesday night, sending the top prize to a mouth-watering $120 million, up for grabs on Friday, which will mark the fourth time this year that the Mega Million lottery has reached at least $120 million in a single winnerless streak.

Of the 78 Mega Millions drawings this year, 18 — or 23 percent — have offered jackpots of at least $120 million. The Powerball lottery, which features faster-rising jackpots due to its higher ticket price as well as higher starting point — $40 million compared to $15 million for Mega Millions — has seen 23 of its 77 drawings feature jackpots of $120 million or more.

Ticket sales also remained healthy for the Mega Millions lottery. Tuesday’s drawing saw 24,034,367 tickets sold. That was the second-highest total of the year for a drawing with a jackpot of under $120 million. The highest came on August 8 when a $115 million Mega Millions jackpot offering sold 24,914,541 tickets. No one won that lottery drawing either.

In fact, that run saw the Mega Millions jackpot rise for four more drawings until one father of five in Calimesa, California drew the winning ticket, what was then a $180 million lottery prize.

Mega Millions has not seen a winner since adding a 44th state, Wyoming, to the roster of states that take part in the lottery game. Powerball has had one winner since Wyoming joined both nationwide lottery games on August 27.

Now Powerball will be adding yet another territory, as Puerto Rico takes part in its first Powerball lottery drawing on October 1. Puerto Rican lottery players will be wagering on a $50 million Powerball jackpot.

Any retailer who sells lottery tickets in Puerto Rico is now eligible to sell Powerball tickets as well, and tickets for that nationwide lottery went on sale Sunday, September 28, at 11 am. Because Puerto Rico is one hour ahead of east coast time, Powerball ticket sales will not be cut off until 10 pm on drawing days, which are Wednesday and Saturday.

Tuesday’s Mega Millions lottery drawing did see one ticket buyer in Washington state match the first five numbers, missing only the Mega Ball, to grab a $1 million prize.

In total, there were 1,611,469 tickets worth some level of prize sold for Tuesday’s drawing. To find out if yours was one of them, check your ticket against these September 30 Mega Millions numbers, drawn at 10:59 pm in Atlanta, Georgia.

3 — 16 — 52 — 54 — 61 Mega Ball 6

The cash value of Friday’s Mega Millions lottery jackpot, to a winner who claims the prize in a single payment, is estimated at $70 million.