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Tonight is the latest Mega Millions drawing for Tuesday, July 24, 2018, reaching an estimated $522 million. Tonight’s was originally anticipated to reach $493 million, but so many bought tickets that the jackpot grew to an estimated $522 million. Do we know yet if anyone won the Mega Millions jackpot? Yes, it looks like at least one person won the $522 million Mega Millions jackpot tonight. We found out the results a lot earlier than normal. It typically takes about two hours from the time of the drawing to process all the tickets and find out if someone won. The drawing was at 11 p.m. Eastern and the results were announced before midnight.
The winning numbers for tonight are 1-2-4-19-29 and a Mega Ball of 20.
California is typically one of the first states to reveal if anyone won, and tonight was no exception. The winning ticket was sold in San Jose at Ernie’s Liquors on South White Road, California Lottery announced. Other states could still announce winners later tonight.
We have one #MegaMillions jackpot winning ticket in #California. We’re still awaiting results from other states. The winning California ticket was sold in #SanJose at Ernie’s Liquors on South White Road. #CALottery
Sometimes it takes much longer to get an answer. With the big jackpot in March that was about $521 million, we actually didn’t find out if anyone won until the next morning. But that was highly unusual. Tonight’s quick turnaround was also unusual.
The July 24 jackpot may not be the largest jackpot in Mega Millions’ history, but it’s close. If someone chooses the cash option tonight, then they’ll get a lump sum of about $308 million.
Now the jackpot is going to start over on Friday at $40 million.
Since Mega Millions changed the jackpot rules in October 2017, we can expect a better chance that the jackpots will get bigger and bigger and break more records over time. The largest jackpots in history were: #1) $656 million in March 2012; #2.) $648 million in December 2013; #3.) $536 million in July 2016; and #4.) $521 million in March 2018, and #5.) $451 million in January 2018. This means that today’s jackpot is the fourth largest in Mega Millions history. That’s impressive.
Even when a winner is eventually announced, whether it’s for tonight’s jackpot or another night, it could still take a while before we find out their identity (if ever.) In New Jersey, for example, players have a year to claim their prize from the date of the drawing. The winner may also be required to appear at a news conference or other promotional event, or to have their image used on social media without any additional consent.
And there’s always a chance a winner might stay anonymous, thanks to a recent Powerball jackpot winner in New Hampshire. Although New Hampshire rules allow people who win games like Powerball to take up to a one year from the draw date to claim their prize, New Hampshire law also requires the winner’s name, town, and amount won be available for public information. The winner was able to file a lawsuit and stay anonymous while claiming the winnings through an anonymous trust, even though they had originally signed their winning ticket with their name. Although that court’s ruling isn’t binding in other states, it means that there’s at least a chance that a winner might file a similar lawsuit and win for future jackpots.
The odds of winning Mega Millions are 1 in 302.6 million, which are actually less than the odds of winning the Powerball, which is 1 in 292.2 million. Mega Millions recently changed its rules in October 2017, making the odds of winning the big jackpot lower (they used to be 1 in 258.9 million.) On October 28, 2017, Mega Millions increased the cost of buying a ticket from $1 to $2. They increased the starting jackpot to $40 million, and changed the play structure. Instead of picking five numbers out of 75 and 1 number out of 15, players now pick five numbers from 1 to 70 and and one number from 1 to 25.
In order to win the jackpot, you’d need to match all five white balls and the yellow Mega ball. If you match all five white numbers only, you’ll win $1 million (and more if you’re using a Mega plier option.) If you match 4 white and the yellow, you’ll win $10,000. If you match 4 white only, you’ll win $500. If you match 3 white and 1 yellow, you’ll win $200. If you match 3 white only or if you match 2 white and 1 yellow, you’ll win $10. If you match one white and one yellow, you’ll win $4. If you only match the yellow, you’ll win $2. But if you only match one white ball, you won’t win anything.
Did you win something tonight? Let us know in the comments below.