$893M Mega Millions Jackpot Drawing Is Tuesday: What To Know In IL

ILLINOIS — Lottery players in Illinois have another shot Tuesday at one of the largest Mega Millions jackpots — $893 million — in the history of the game.

The jackpot climbed again for Tuesday’s drawing after no one matched the five white balls — 13, 25, 50, 51 and 66 — and the mega ball, which was 6, in Friday night’s drawing. Mega Millions numbers are drawn twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. Eastern Time.

To be eligible for the jackpot, Illinois players must buy their tickets by 9:45 p.m.

Jackpots may be paid out over a 30-year annuity, but most people take a lump sum payment, which would be $421.4 million for Tuesday’s drawing. It’s important to remember that winnings are subject to federal taxes and, often, state taxes as well.

Tickets cost $2. For another $1, players can buy the Megaplier option, which increases their non-jackpot prizes by two, three, four or five times. The Megaplier in Friday’s drawing was 5X. Mega Millions is played in 45 states; Washington, D.C.; and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Although there were no jackpot winners Friday, a ticket sold in New York matched the five white balls to win a second-tier $1 million prize. Another 39 tickets matched four white balls and the mega ball to win third-tier prizes, which were worth $50,000 each for the nine players who played the Megaplier option. The other third-tier winners took home $10,000 each.

The top prize has been growing since Dec. 8, when the same Los Angeles gas station sold two jackpot-winning tickets. The two winners split the $394 million prize.

• Related: Gas Station Sells 2 Mega Millions Jackpot-Winning Tickets

In the 28 consecutive drawings since the last jackpot win, almost 21.5 million non-jackpot winning tickets have been sold, including 33 second-tier prizes worth $1 or more won in 19 states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

Tuesday’s jackpot is the sixth-largest in the 22-year history of the Mega Millions game and the 10th-largest U.S. lottery prize. Five of those six jackpots exceeded $1 billion.

Lottery players face long odds — 1 in 302.6 million — in winning the jackpot.

Since the game was rolled out in 2002, Illinois has had 14 jackpot winners:

• July 29, 2022: $1.337 billion ($780.5 million cash), anonymous partnership, Des Plaines
• June 8, 2021: $55 million ($38 million cash), anonymous, Crestwood
• Aug. 11, 2017: $393 million, Patricia Busking, Palos Heights
• Sept. 16, 2016: $134 million, Elaine Francis Trust, Tuscola
• June 2, 2015: $262 million, John Williams and Neal Logue, Blue Island
• Jan. 16, 2015: $265 million, Jesus Davila Jr., Naperville
• May 4, 2012: $118 million, The Dirty Dozen, Chicago
• March 30, 2012: $656 million, three winning tickets ($218.6 million each), including Merle and Patricia Butler, Red Bud
• March 12, 2010: $20 million, Dane and Julie Colby, Hennepin
• May 23, 2008: $17 million, two winning tickets ($8.5 million each), including Terry Hackman, Franklin Grove
• Dec. 18, 2007: $163 million, two winning tickets ($81.5 million each), including JYS Family Limited Partnership of Chicago
• May 17, 2002: $28 million, Samuel Rice and The Rice Partnership, Chatham
• May 24, 2002: $12 million, Susan Hannoun, Chicago area
• Sept. 27, 2002: $37 million, Barbara and George Martinek, Mount Prospect