Published July 27. 2022 10:29AM
A giant Mega Millions lottery jackpot ballooned to $1.02 billion after no one matched all six numbers Tuesday night and won the top prize.
The new estimated jackpot will be the nation’s fourth-largest lottery prize.
The jackpot has grown so large because no one has matched the game’s six selected numbers since April 15. That’s 29 consecutive drawings without a big winner.
Tuesday’s numbers were: 07-29-60-63-66, Mega Ball: 15.
The $1.02 billion prize is for winners who choose the annuity option, paid annually over 30 years. Most winners opt for the cash option, which for the next drawing Friday night is an estimated $602.5 million.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302.5 million.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The game is coordinated by state lotteries.
The Mega Millions lottery jackpot is advertised outside a smoke shop in the Bushwick neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. The payoff for Tuesday night's drawing is an estimated $810 million, the nation's fourth-largest jackpot. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
People wait in line outside Blue Bird Liquor to purchase Mega Millions lottery tickets in Hawthorne, Calif., Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Prince Joseph Israel fills out Mega Millions playslips at Blue Bird Liquor in Hawthorne, Calif., Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
FILE - A lottery ticket vending machine in a convenience store, July 21, 2022, in Northbrook, Ill. The next Mega Millions drawing is Tuesday, July 25. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, file)
Mike Boyle displays Mega Millions lottery Quick Picks he purchased at Lichine's Liquors & Deli in Sacramento, Calif., on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. The payoff for Tuesday night's drawing is an estimated $810 million, the nation's fourth-largest jackpot. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Nancy Linares, left, and Prince Joseph Israel fill out Mega Millions playslips at Blue Bird Liquor in Hawthorne, Calif., Tuesday, July 26, 2022. Lottery players will be gripping their tickets tightly ahead of the upcoming Mega Millions drawing with an estimated $830 million prize on the line. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)