It was exactly 12 months ago, on 2nd June 2015, when John Williams and Neal Logue of Blue Island, Illinois matched all five main numbers plus the Mega Ball to land $262 million. The jackpot has been given away several times over the last year but has only crept back past the quarter-of-a-billion dollar mark after Tuesday’s rollover.
The current jackpot has been steadily building since Michael Burkett from Seattle, Washington, won $157 million on Tuesday 8th March, although every draw has produced thousands of prize winners. Two participants in Tuesday’s game, who bought their tickets in Georgia and Texas, matched five main numbers to grab $1 million each.
Friday’s incredible jackpot, which has a cash option of $162 million, is one of the 20 largest prizes to have been offered in the history of Mega Millions. Find out more about Mega Millions, as players rush out to enter tomorrow’s game in a bid to become the biggest winner of 2016. Tickets can be bought online from anywhere in the world or from authorised retailers in 46 US jurisdictions.