Current:Home > ScamsWho won the $810 million Mega Millions jackpot in Texas? We may never know.-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Who won the $810 million Mega Millions jackpot in Texas? We may never know.
View Date:2025-01-11 13:18:48
Someone in Texas has won the $810 million Mega Millions game, making them the third Mega Millions jackpot winner of the year. But we may never know who bought the winning ticket in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land and scored a very sweet win.
The winner has the option to claim the prize anonymously because the Lone Star State allows winners of jackpots of over $1 million to keep their identity a secret.
"We are beyond thrilled to celebrate Texas’ largest-ever jackpot winner and can’t wait to meet and congratulatethem in person,” Ryan Mindell, executive director of the Texas Lottery, said in a news release announcing the winning ticket.
Texas is one of 17 states that allows national lottery winners to remain anonymous. The list of states includes Illinois, where a Mega Millions winner took advantage of the state's anonymity laws earlier this year.
Here's what else to know.
Feeling Lucky? Explore the Latest Lottery News & Results
Where Mega Millions winners can remain anonymous
- Arizona: Prize must be over $100,000
- Arkansas: Prize must be over $500,000 and a winner is only anonymous for three years
- Delaware: Any prize
- Georgia: Prize must be over $250,000
- Illinois: Prize must be over $250,000
- Kansas: Any prize
- Maryland: Any prize
- Michigan: Prize must be over $10,000 in state-run games only
- Minnesota: Prize must be over $10,000
- Mississippi: Any prize
- Missouri: Any prize
- Montana: Any prize
- New Jersey: Any prize
- North Dakota: Any prize
- South Carolina: Any prize
- Texas: Prize must be over $1 million
- Virginia: Prize must be greater than $10 million
- West Virginia: Prize must be over $1 million
- Wyoming: Any prize
What is the largest Mega Millions jackpot ever?
The jackpot won Tuesday night was not one of the top five largest prizes of all time. The top five are:
- $1.602 billion from one winning ticket in Florida in August 2023
- $1.537 billion from one winning ticket in October 2018 in South Carolina
- $1.35 billion from one winning ticket in January 2023 in Maine
- $1.34 billion from one winning ticket in July 2022 in Illinois
- $1.12 billion from one winning ticket in March 2024 in New Jersey
What are the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot?
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are long. Players have a one in 302,575,350 shot at winning the grand prize, a one in 12,607,306 shot at winning the $1 million prize and a one in 24 chance of winning any prize.
How to play Mega Millions
Tickets to Mega Millions cost $2 per play.
There are nine total ways to win a prize, from the jackpot to $2.
To play, pick five numbers from 1 to 70 and one Mega Ball number from 1 to 25. You can choose Easy Pick or Quick Pick to have the terminal randomly pick numbers for you. You win the jackpot by matching all six winning numbers in the drawing.
What is the Megaplier?
Most states offer the Megaplier feature, which increases non-jackpot prizes by two, three, four and five times.
It costs an additional $1 per play. Before each regular Mega Millions drawing, the Megaplier is drawn. From a pool of 15 balls, five are marked with "2X," three with "4X" and one with "5X."
Where can you buy lottery tickets?
Tickets can be purchased in person at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.
You can also order tickets online through Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network, in these U.S. states and territories: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Texas, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to pick your lottery game and numbers, place your order, see your ticket and collect your winnings all using your phone or home computer.
Jackpocket is the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services. Must be 18+, 21+ in AZ and 19+ in NE. Not affiliated with any State Lottery. Gambling Problem? Call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY); 1-800-327-5050 (MA); 1-877-MYLIMIT (OR); 1-800-GAMBLER (all others). Visit jackpocket.com/tos for full terms and conditions.
veryGood! (8277)
Related
- Watch a rescuer’s cat-like reflexes pluck a kitten from mid-air after a scary fall
- Don't dismiss Rick Barnes, Tennessee this March: Dalton Knecht could transcend history
- EPA bans asbestos, a deadly carcinogen still in use decades after a partial ban was enacted
- Healthy condiments? Yes, there is such a thing. Eight dietitian-recommended sauces.
- Missing Ole Miss student declared legally dead as trial for man accused in his death looms
- Subpoenas on Maui agencies and officials delay release of key report into deadly wildfire
- NCAA Tournament 2024: Complete schedule, times, how to watch all men's March Madness games
- High-profile elections in Ohio could give Republicans a chance to expand clout in Washington
- Jennifer Garner Details Navigating Grief 7 Months After Death of Her Dad William Garner
- Alaska lawmakers fail to override the governor’s education package veto
Ranking
- Incredible animal moments: Watch farmer miraculously revive ailing chick, doctor saves shelter dogs
- Kentucky Senate proposes conditions for providing funds for the state’s Office of Medical Cannabis
- North Carolina lands syringe-manufacturing plant that will employ 400
- North Carolina lands syringe-manufacturing plant that will employ 400
- Mega Millions winning numbers for November 12 drawing: Jackpot rises to $361 million
- Man pleads guilty to murder in Hawaii after killing lover and encasing his body in tub
- Icelandic volcano erupts yet again, nearby town evacuated
- 2 dead, 5 wounded in mass shooting in Washington, D.C., police say
Recommendation
-
What Republicans are saying about Matt Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general
-
Power ranking all 68 teams in the 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket based on March Madness odds
-
2 Black men tortured by Mississippi officers call for toughest sentences
-
Wayne Brady sets the record straight on 'the biggest misconception' about being pansexual
-
Democrat Janelle Bynum flips Oregon’s 5th District, will be state’s first Black member of Congress
-
Don't dismiss Rick Barnes, Tennessee this March: Dalton Knecht could transcend history
-
Icelandic volcano erupts yet again, nearby town evacuated
-
Rob Lowe's son John Owen trolls dad on his 60th birthday with a John Stamos pic