Mega Millions ticket worth $1.7 million sold in California as jackpot soars to $977 million

KABC logo
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Mega Millions ticket worth $1.7 million sold in California
Nobody has won the Mega Millions jackpot but someone in California bought a ticket with five numbers worth $1,748,612.

Nobody has won the Mega Millions jackpot but someone in California still got pretty close.

There were no tickets sold with all six numbers in Tuesday's drawing of the multi-state Mega Millions lottery, pushing the estimated jackpot for Friday's drawing to $977 million, the 10-largest U.S. lottery jackpot.

A ticket with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, was sold at a liquor store in Sacramento, the California Lottery announced. The ticket is worth $1,748,612.

The numbers drawn Tuesday were 24, 46, 49, 62, 66 and the Mega number was 7. The drawing was the 29th since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold.

While tickets with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, sold in other states are worth $1 million or a multiple of $1 million, California law requires major payoffs of lottery games to be paid on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning they are determined by sales and the number of winners.

There were three other tickets sold with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, one each sold in Florida, Texas and Virginia. They are each worth $1 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, which conducts the game.

The odds of matching all five numbers and the Mega number are 1 in 302,575,350, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24.

Meanwhile, the Powerball jackpot also keeps growing. The latest jackpot has surged to $687 million, a $327.3 million cash value, ahead of Wednesday night's drawing.

City News Service contributed to this report.