US lottery jackpots at $1.4B before drawing
$970M Mega Millions prize second largest US history
A man photographs a sign that displays the Mega Millions Lottery prize is estimated 970 million before the drawing in New York, United States on October 18, 2018. $970 million, becoming the largest jackpot in Mega Millions History. ( Atılgan Özdil - Anadolu Agency )
Washington DC
By Umar Farooq
WASHINGTON
The jackpot for the Mega Millions lottery reached $970 million Friday, making it the second largest prize in U.S. history and largest in the game's history.
The country’s other lottery, Powerball, is $430 million for Saturday's draw.
The drawing rose from $667 million when no one won the prize Tuesday. The jackpot has continued to rise as no winners have come up since July 24, when an 11-member office pool in California shared the $543 million prize.
Winners are given the choice of receiving the prize in installments or a cash option expected to be around $548 million for Mega Millions and $248 million for Powerball.
Winners are expected to pay a tax rate of 24 percent on the prize upfront, with additional state and local taxes.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery is 1 in 302,575,350, while the odds for the Powerball are 292,201,338.
For both games, winners can take three months to one year to claim the prizes, depending on the state where the ticket was purchased.
The games are played in 44 states, Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The largest prize in U.S. history was a Powerball jackpot of $1.6 billion in 2016.
The drawing for the Mega Millions jackpot take place at 11 p.m. (0300GMT).
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