US: Mega Millions lottery jackpot peaks at a $1 billion this Christmas

WASHINGTON: The Mega Millions lottery jackpot reached a whopping $1 billion this Christmas in the United States (US).

This positions the Mega Millions lottery jackpot this year to the seventh-largest jackpot in the history of the game.

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With the cash options available at up to $448.8 million, thousands of US citizens rushed to purchase tickets in hopes of “striking it rich”.

The last drawing of the Mega Millions lottery jackpot resulted in no one matching all six number, which allowed the jackpot to climb from an initial $862 million to its current jaw-dropping amount.

To participate in the Mega Millions, players purchase a ticket which costs a mere $2. They select five numbers from a set of white balls numbered 1 to 70 and one number from a set of gold “Mega Balls”, numbered from 1 to 25.

Players also have the options for a “Quick Pick”, where the numbers are randomly generated for them.

Winning in the Mega Millions can happen in several ways. The simplest win is matching the Mega Ball, which earns $2. If a player matches one of the five balls along with the Mega Ball, they win $4.

There are a total of nine ways to win prizes, with amounts ranging from $2 to the jackpot.

Drawings for the Mega Million take place twice a week in the US, on Tuesdays and Fridays at around 10:00 local time.

Tickets are purchased from local markets and gas stations, and in some US states, can even be bought online.

If someone wins this year’s jackpot, it will be the largest jackpot ever awarded. The last Mega Millions jackpot lottery winner went home with $810 million in September this year.

Since then, over 21.4 million winning tickets were sold across 29 drawings.

Besides Mega Millions, the Powerball lottery is also popular, with its jackpot currently estimated at $117 million for the drawing on Christmas Eve.

Powerball drawings occur on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot lottery are around 302 million to 1.

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Despite such odds, the chance of winning life-altering money leads many hopefuls to keep gambling away, especially during the festive Christmas season.