By SCOTT McFETRIDGE (Associated Press)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — There is not any thriller why the Mega Millions jackpot has grown to $1.55 billion, making it the third-largest ever forward of Tuesday evening’s drawing.
The prize has ballooned as a result of nobody has matched the sport’s six successful numbers since April 18, amounting to 31 straight drawings and not using a large winner. The practically four-month-long unfortunate streak might be all of the sweeter for the one who lastly lands the highest prize, which is inching towards the file lottery jackpot of $2.04 billion gained in 2022 by a participant in California.
“It’s a fun thing,” mentioned Merlin Smith, a retired actual property appraiser who stopped Monday at a gasoline station in Minneapolis to purchase 5 tickets. “But if you’re depending on winning, you’d be disappointed a lot.”
WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG FOR SOMEONE TO WIN?
It has been a protracted stretch of jackpot futility, however Tuesday evening’s thirty second straight drawing because the final winner nonetheless isn’t a file. The longest run for a Mega Millions jackpot was 36 drawings that ended on Jan. 22, 2021, with somebody successful a $1.05 billion jackpot. The file variety of lottery attracts was for a Powerball prize that ended after 41 drawings when somebody gained the file $2.04 billion jackpot.
Wins are so uncommon as a result of the chances are so depressing, at 1 in 302.6 million. When a drawing fails to provide a giant winner, the prizes roll over for weeks. Bigger prizes promote extra lottery tickets, which additionally drives extra income for the state providers lotteries fund.
Steven Tallant, who purchased three Mega Millions lottery tickets Monday on the similar gasoline station in Minneapolis, mentioned he doesn’t count on to win even a smaller prize.
“It’s a cheap fantasy,” Tallant, a retired college president, mentioned with a chuckle. “For a couple of bucks, for a couple days, you get to have a fantasy that you’re going to win big. I’ve been playing for many years and very seldom win. But a couple bucks here and there is all I ever do.”
HOW MANY NUMBER COMBINATIONS ARE THERE?
There are roughly 302.6 million doable quantity combos for the 5 white balls and separate gold Mega Ball in Mega Millions. The white balls are numbered from 1 to 70 and the Mega Ball goes from 1 to 25.
To put that quantity in perspective, contemplate that each one the tickets bought for final Friday’s drawing produced solely about 35% of the doable quantity combos. That means about 65% of doable combos — or practically 200 million choices — weren’t coated. Lottery officers count on that as gross sales improve forward of Tuesday evening’s drawing, the potential combos coated will rise to only over 41%.
DON’T EXPECT TO PUT $1.55 BILLION IN THE BANK
Yes, the cash will come pouring in in case you win the Mega Millions jackpot, however don’t count on a $1.55 billion examine to pop into your checking account.
That’s as a result of the estimated $1.55 billion prize is for a sole winner who chooses to be paid over 30 years by way of an annuity. Jackpot winners nearly all the time select a lump sum fee, which for Tuesday evening’s drawing could be an estimated $757.2 million.
For both prize choice, a giant slice of the cash would go towards federal and probably state taxes.
State lotteries sometimes lop off 24% of winnings for federal taxes, and the invoice can run even larger as a result of the highest federal earnings tax price is 37%. Many states additionally tax lottery winnings.
As extra individuals purchase tickets, the probabilities additionally improve that multiple individual might match all six numbers. For instance, a $1.586 billion Powerball prize was gained in 2016 by three gamers in California, Florida and Tennessee. That means a winner might find yourself with solely a portion of a really massive jackpot.
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO CHOOSE MY NUMBERS?
Players overwhelmingly select the simple choose choice when shopping for tickets, letting the machine generate numbers for them. In Iowa, for instance, greater than 90% of Mega Millions purchases had been to individuals who let the machine select, reasonably than deciding on the numbers themselves.
The odds are the identical irrespective of if the machine chooses the numbers, otherwise you do.
___
WHERE IS THE LOTTERY PLAYED?
Mega Millions is performed in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The recreation shouldn’t be performed in Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.
___
Associated Press author Trisha Ahmed contributed to this report from Minneapolis.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”