Critics say cartoon animals and a no-check demo mode risk drawing in younger users, while officials insist paid play is tightly verified.
For the first time in the multi-state lottery’s history, grand prizes of more than $1 billion were awarded back-to-back.
Regardless if someone wins the grand prize on Wednesday night, the multi-state lottery will award back-to-back jackpots of at least $1 billion for the first time.
The last Mega Millions jackpot was worth $20 million when it was awarded in April. There have been 31 consecutive drawings without a winner since then.
Identity of the lucky winner is not yet known, but the ticket was sold at a gas station in suburban Los Angeles. The owner of the gas station received a bonus check for $1 million for the sale.
Surges in traffic crashed the official Powerball site. It’s been replaced temporarily with a static page in preparation for Monday’s record jackpot.
The previous record jackpot of $1.586 billion from January 2016 finally falls. If no one wins the grand prize on Saturday, the jackpot for Monday could reach $1.9 billion.
In an exclusive, Powerball Product Group Chair Drew Svitko says the overall record of $1.586 billion “is within reach” but depends on several factors.
The multi-jurisdictional jackpot has had 37 consecutive drawings with no one winning the grand prize. The lump sum payment option is now nearly $500 million.
No one has matched all six numbers to win the grand prize since early August. There have been 36 consecutive rollovers since then.
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