Mega Millions

After no jackpot winner, Mega Millions swells to $825M — but 3 Illinois tickets took home prizes

Some winners in Tuesday's Mega Millions drawing took home smaller prizes, including three tickets in Illinois that scored $10,000 each

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The Mega Millions jackpot this holiday season just got bigger, with $825 million now on the line.

According to the Mega Millions website, no tickets matched all six numbers -- 56, 66, 67, 68, 69, and 18 -- to win the jackpot in Tuesday's drawing. Still, a few lucky winners did match five numbers to take home a cool $1 million, including two tickets sold in California, and one each in Louisiana and Oklahoma.

In North Carolina, one ticket matched all five numbers plus the megaplier to score $4 million.

Elsewhere, some tickets won as much as $40,000, after matching four balls plus the Mega Ball. 38 tickets took home $10,000 in Tuesday's drawing, including three in Illinois, the state's lottery website said.

The estimated prize for the next Mega Millions drawing on Friday, Dec. 20, is $825 million, Mega Millions said. The cash option for the winning jackpot would come in at $382.2 million, officials said.

"If won at that level, it would be the largest prize ever won in December and the seventh largest in Mega Millions history" lottery officials said.

According to a release, 13 Mega Millions jackpots have been won in December since the game began in 2002, with the majority won before the Christmas holiday.

"There has never been a jackpot win on Christmas Day, although over the years drawings have been conducted on Christmas six times – in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2020," the release said.

This year, the Mega Millions jackpot has only been won three times -- making it the "fewest won" in any single year since the game began, according to officials.

The Mega Millions drawing takes place at 10 p.m. CT Friday. Tickets are $2 each, though they will increase by more than double in 2025.

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