Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing could potentially reveal a winning ticket for the fifth largest jackpot in the game’s history, totaling $1.22 billion. The winning numbers for the drawing were 3-7-37-49-55 with a Mega Ball of 6. The jackpot has been growing since it was reset in September after a $810 million jackpot was won in Texas. As the deadline for ticket purchases nears, players have been contributing to the jackpot’s growth in hopes of winning big.
Residents of eight states, including California, Florida, and Texas, can take home the full amount of the jackpot without state taxes. The current fifth-largest jackpot of $1.128 billion was claimed recently, with the winner opting for the cash value of $537.5 million before taxes. The federal tax on the winnings is likely to be 37%, with an additional 8% tax from New Jersey where the winning ticket was purchased.
The Mega Millions jackpot has been won three times in 2024 so far, marking a decrease from the previous year. In 2023, there were 10 jackpot wins, the highest since changes were made to the game in 2013. The largest Mega Millions jackpot was claimed in August 2023 for $1.602 billion, but it did not surpass the highest Powerball jackpot of $2.04 billion in November 2022. The excitement of potentially winning such a large sum of money has attracted players from across the country to participate in the Mega Millions lottery game.
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