The Mega Millions jackpot up for grabs in the August 5 drawing will be a staggering $100 million . Friday’s drawing marked the 10th in a row with no one matching all six numbers to win the top Mega Millions prize.
The Mega Millions game has gone more than a month without a jackpot winner, causing the jackpot to reach the nine figure mark for just the third time this year . The two previous runs of $100 million or more have ended with jackpots of $400 million and $149 million being won. Between February 7 and March 18, Mega Millions held 12 consecutive drawings with nine-figure jackpots until hitting $400 million.
The drawing held last Friday carried a jackpot of $87 million, which attracted ticket sales of 19,658,397, the fifth-highest sales total of 2014 for a jackpot under $100 million.
Friday’s drawing saw two second-prize winners matching the first five numbers but not the Mega Ball. One ticket in Iowa hit that “Match 5” combination for a $1 million payout. A single ticket in California was also a Match 5 winner, but that lucky player will benefit from the state’s par-mutuel payout system, to collect at $1,154,385 prize, before taxes kick in.
The most recent Mega Millions winner to come forward, Kelsey Zachow of Mount Clemens, Michigan, won a $66 million jackpot on June 13. Since then, there has been one more winner. A single ticket in Texas hit the Mega Millions jackpot on June 27 for a $33 million top prize. That winner is still unknown.
There were also 23 third-prize winners in last Friday’s Mega Millions game, though those prizes are not worth anything close to millions. With three of those tickets sold in California, the winners there will receive $6,396 each, again before taxes of course.
The other 20 third-prize winners, who matched four of the first five numbers and also matched the Mega Ball, will collect a flat $5,000.
Did your August 1 Mega Millions ticket win you any money? Check your Mega Millions numbers against the following combination, drawn Friday night at 10:59 pm in Atlanta, Georgia:
13 — 29 — 34 — 37 — 72 Mega Ball 6
The $100 million jackpot Tuesday would go to a winner who wants the money paid out in 30 annual checks , which would start at $1,505,144, then increase steadily each year until the last check, 29 years from now, which would total $6,195,375.
If a winner takes the jackpot as a single payment, the amount is estimated at $57 million.
