Four Lottery Players Nearly Miss Mega Millions $700M Jackpot

An estimated $695 million was up for grabs last week from Mega Millions, the popular lottery game in the United States. While many tried their luck, nobody matched all the winning numbers from the game’s drawing on Friday the 13th last week. This allowed the jackpot to continue growing, surpassing the mind-blowing sum of $700 million.

Three Players Win $1M, One Bags $3M Megaplier Prize

The latest drawing saw winning numbers 36, 43, 52, 58 and 65 drawn, along with the gold Mega ball number 16. The cash option for Friday’s jackpot was $322.0 million. While nobody matched all winning numbers to win the jackpot prize, four lottery players nearly missed the top prize after matching all winning numbers with the exception of the gold Mega ball number.

One incredibly lucky Mega Millions player from Vermont matched the five white balls and paid extra for the game’s Megaplier. Considering that the Megaplier was 3X on Friday, the lucky player scored a sweet $3 million prize.

On the other hand, three other fortunate players collected the standard $1 million tier-two prize from the latest Mega Millions drawing. The game’s recent drawing produced one winner in New York, Massachusetts and California with each winning a $1 million tier-two prize.

A total of 28 lottery players matched four white balls along with the gold Mega ball for a tier-three payout. Out of that total, four collected a $30,000 Megaplier prize each, while the remaining took home the standard $10,000 tier-three prize each.

If Won This Month, the Jackpot Could Be the Third Largest for December

Surviving on Friday enables the jackpot from Mega Millions to hit $740 million, according to the popular lottery game. As usual, the grand prize has a cash option which is $342.9 million, a far cry from the initial sum but still completely life-changing.

The next Mega Millions drawing is scheduled for Tuesday, December 17 at 11 PM ET. In case a lucky lottery player beats the odds of 1 in 302.5 million to win the grand prize, they would be collecting the third largest jackpot for December in the history of the game.

It was more than a decade ago when the Mega Millions jackpot rose in the same month to a similar level and was won. At the time, two tickets won the $648 million prize on December 17, 2013. More recently, on December 17, 2019, a single winning ticket in Ohio won the Mega Millions jackpot for a sweet $375 million payday.

The last time a lucky lottery player scored the much-wanted grand prize was back in September when a single ticket matched all winning numbers for an $810 million win.