News writer
The heat is turning up for Mega Millions and Powerball players, as their combined jackpots have grown past half a billion dollars!
Mega Millions drawing
Up first is the Mega Millions drawing, which will take place tonight. The Friday, August 2, 2024, drawing sits at an estimated $358 million, with a cash value of $169.7 million.
There have been no Mega Millions jackpot winners since June 4, when an online player in Illinois matched all six of the Mega Millions numbers to win the $552 million jackpot. That means we have had 16 consecutive drawings since that June 4, 2024, drawing without a jackpot winner.
Tonight's drawing will take place at 11:00 p.m. ET, with the draw game being played in 45 states in the U.S., as well as the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
While the $358 million jackpot doesn't break the Top 10 Mega Millions jackpots of all time, it still is a big chunk of change to possibly win. The largest Mega Millions jackpot on record occurred in August 2023 when one winner in Florida took home the $1.6 billion jackpot.
The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302 million.
Powerball drawing
While the Mega Millions is doing most of the heavy lifting to get their combined total past $500 million, the Powerball jackpot for the Saturday, August 3, drawing is still an estimated $171 million, with a cash value of $81.4 million.
There have been no Powerball jackpot winners since July 3, when one ticket in Ohio matched all six of the winning numbers to win the $139.3 million jackpot. Not as long of a drought, but still 12 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner.
Currently, Powerball is played in 48 jurisdictions, which includes 45 states in the U.S., as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The drawing for Saturday will take place at 10:59 p.m. ET.
The Powerball jackpot needs to grow a lot higher to make the Top 10 Powerball jackpots of all time, but no one will complain if they won the $171 million jackpot this week. The biggest Powerball jackpot on record occurred in November 2022 when one winner in California won a $2.04 billion jackpot.
The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
Some Mega Millions luck in North Carolina
While there hasn't been a jackpot winner for Mega Millions since June 4, there have been some lucky winners in the state of North Carolina. During this current jackpot run, North Carolinians have some amazing stats to share:
- 16,192 - This is the total number of winning tickets in the state from Tuesday's (July 30, 2024) Mega Millions drawing.
- $4.8 million - This is an estimate of how much money has been raised for education in North Carolina during the current Mega Millions run.
In a statement, Terri Rose, Chief Brand Officer of the N.C. Education Lottery said:
With a jackpot like that available, what an exciting time to be a Mega Millions player. We would love to see that jackpot won in North Carolina tonight. Good luck.
Enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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