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Mega Millions Jackpot Explodes To Record High For Fourth Of July Weekend

By Charisse Van Horn
Published on: 10:58 PST, Jun 30, 2016

Mega Millions drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday and the Fourth of July weekend will see the third largest Mega Millions jackpot in the history of the lottery game. As people prepare to celebrate America’s birth and independence, others are also hoping luck is in their favor and that they will hit the jackpot and enjoy financial independence. Mega Millions jackpots always reset to $15 million following a grand prize win. The last jackpot was won on March 8, 2016, when Michael Burkett from Washington won $157 million. The Friday drawing will be for $415 million.

The official Mega Millions website issued a press release announcing the record-breaking jackpot and stated that it is the largest jackpot since the December 17, 2013, game that reached a jackpot worth $648 million. Two winning tickets were sold in that lottery game; one each in California and Georgia. That was the second largest jackpot in Mega Millions history. The largest jackpot in the Mega Millions game was held on March 30, 2012, and the drawing was for $656 million. There were three winning tickets sold in that drawing. According to the announcement, the largest amount won on a single ticket was $326 million for a drawing that took place on Nov. 4, 2014.

Mega Millions drawings are held live from Atlanta, Georgia, at 11:00 p.m. ET, and are streamed live to affiliate network stations as well as the internet. Stay tuned as we’ll have the live drawing video for you and see if there are any new Mega Millions jackpot winners for the Fourth of July weekend. If no one wins the jackpot, it will continue to roll, and could possibly surpass the record-topping $656 million jackpot from March 30, 2012.

Powerball and Mega Millions are the two most popular lottery jackpot games. As Powerball jackpots reset to $40 million and Mega Millions jackpots reset to $15 million, the odds favor Powerball jackpots for reaching greater heights than Mega Millions jackpots. Since there hasn’t been a winner since March 8, the Mega Millions jackpot has continued to grow and now it is sparking frenzy. Whenever Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots reach great heights, more people play and unfortunately, more scams tend to surface. It is imperative that those who will play Mega Millions for the first time tomorrow night ensure they take pro-active steps to avoid being victimized.

Mega Millions is played in 44 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C. The best way to stay alert regarding lottery scams is to check with your official state lottery website. You can find out if Mega Millions is played in your state, as well as rules for play, at the official Mega Millions site.

When Winning Lottery Is Less Than a Dream Come True

The odds of winning Mega Millions are better than Powerball, but they are still steep. Mega Millions tickets cost $1 per play, whereas Powerball tickets cost $2. Mega Millions consists of five white balls ranging in number between 1 and 75, and a gold Mega ball between the numbers 1 and 15. The grand prize is won by matching all five white balls and the gold Mega ball. The odds of winning the grand prize jackpot are 1 in 258,890,850. There are nine ways to win Mega Millions and everyone who matches the Mega ball number wins a prize.

Are you going to play Mega Millions this Friday and try your luck at the record-breaking jackpot?

[Photo by Pathdoc/Shutterstock]

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