Americans have been lined up since Saturday to buy tickets for the fifth-biggest lottery prize in U.S. history — Tuesday night’s $1.1 billion Mega Millions contest.
The winning numbers were 7-13-14-15-18, with the Mega Ball being 9.
There have been just six billion-dollar jackpots in U.S. history, though three have been in just the past year, thanks to rule changes designed to make the pots grow faster.
The failure of anyone to win the previous drawing Friday night made it 24 straight drawings without a match of all six numbers.
The $1.1 billion drawing comes just two months after the biggest lottery prize ever, a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot that was won Nov. 8 in California but remains unclaimed.
If taken in a single massive payment, as most recent big lottery winners have chosen to do, Tuesday’s $1.1 million prize would be worth $576.8 million. The larger, advertised amount is what the other option — a 29-year annuity — would be worth over its lifetime.
Federal taxes would quickly take almost 40% of that amount, with state taxes a possibility on top of that.
The $2 Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, along with the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The odds of a winning Mega Millions ticket are 1 in 302.5 million.
