Dec. 29 (UPI) — The lottery will close out 2022 with a bang as the Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $640 million for Friday’s drawing.
Nobody hit all six numbers in Tuesday’s drawing, worth $565 million, setting the eve of New Year’s Eve up to be a historic game. The $640 million jackpot will be the largest ever up for grabs in the final week of the year.
“It’s by far the largest Mega Millions prize ever offered in the final week of any year and could provide someone with a very happy New Year’s celebration,” the lottery said in a news release.
The cash option for the $640 million jackpot is about $328.3 million. This is the sixth time the Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed the $600 million mark in its 20-year history.
The jackpot was last won Oct. 14, when players in Florida and California took a share of the grand prize, an estimated $502 million.
Since then, 21 drawings have gone without a jackpot winner, but about 17 million prizes have been awarded, albeit at many more modest take-home amounts. Forty players have won $1 million across 18 states.
Tuesday’s numbers were 9, 13, 36, 59, 61 and Mega Ball 11. About 1.9 million winning tickets were sold, including five that matched the five white balls, which is worth $1 million, except in California. Two tickets matching five white balls were sold in California, winning $245,984 each.
The second-largest Mega Millions jackpot in history was won on July 29. An Illinois player won an estimated $1.3 billion. The largest jackpot was about $1.5 billion in 2018.