New Jersey ticket claims $1.13B Mega Millions jackpot

One big jackpot is off the board.

A ticket purchased in New Jersey matched all the winning numbers in the $1.13 billion ($537.5 million all cash) Mega Millions jackpot Tuesday night. The numbers were 7-11-22-29-38 and a Mega Ball of 4.

There were 13 tickets that matched all five regular numbers to win $1 million each.

Having both nationwide (almost) lotteries close to or above a $1 billion jackpot is a repeat of last summer, when the lotteries were climbing to even bigger jackpots, albeit a few weeks apart.

On Wednesday, Powerball will draw for an estimated $865 million jackpot ($416.1 million all cash).

In 2023, both games had jackpots rise into the billions. A Powerball jackpot of $1.08 billion was won July 19, and the largest Mega Millions jackpot ever of $1.602 billion was won 20 days later on Aug. 8.

Sales are brisk at The Last Stop outlets in White Hills, Arizona.

“Closer to a billion (jackpot) is we see an influx of more customers,” said Rachel Sockwell, operations manager for The Last Stop. “It used to be around $500 million, but then they changed to numbers to get larger jackpots.”

Sockwell couldn’t provide the number of average daily ticket sales, but she did note the biggest winning ticket ever sold by their outlets was a $650,000 winning of an Triple Twist game of the Arizona Lottery. The stores have sold three Powerball tickets that won $50,000 each.

Should the store sell a Powerball or Mega Millions ticket that wins the top jackpot, the store owner would get $50,000.

The Powerball lottery has not been won since Jan. 1, 2024, when a single ticket holder won in Michigan. The odds of winning are 1 in 292.2 million.

Mega Millions was last won on Dec. 8, 2023, when two California tickets sold at same location split a $394 million jackpot. The odds of winning are 1 in 302.5 million.

Winnings would be subject to federal taxes, and some states also tax lottery winnings.

The lotteries can’t be called nationwide because a handful of states, including Nevada, prohibit state lotteries.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is played in those states as well as Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com.