J.D. BAILEY
Banner-News
As Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing for $375 million came up with no overall jackpot winner, the stakes for the multi-state lottery game are expected to balloon to an estimated $422 million ($254.8 million cash) by Friday’s 10 p.m. drawing. If sales go as expected, the pot could be the sixth-largest in the game’s history, passing the $414 million prize seen in March 2014.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever was $656 million in March 2012 when three winning tickets were sold. The biggest single giveaway came July 8, 2016, when an Indiana family took a $536 million jackpot – the third largest ever. The year’s seventh month has also seen 22 jackpots won since the game’s 2002 inception, according to a Wednesday Mega Millions media release. Drawings for Mega Millions’ jackpot takes place every Tuesday and Friday. Cutoff time to purchase a ticket in Arkansas is 9:45 p.m., day of the drawing.
Although no ticket during Tuesday night’s drawing matched all six winning numbers, three $1-million tickets were sold in Florida, New Jersey, and Oklahoma containing five matching digits. The last full winning ticket was sold in Ohio ahead of the May 4, $142-million jackpot.
Mega Millions is now available for play in 44 states and two territories across the country’s global footprint. The Powerball rival, supervised by the Georgia Lottery, expanded its reach in 2010 to compete with the long established gaming brand. In October 2017, Mega Millions increased its basic ticket price from $1 to $2, in an attempt to generate larger jackpot’s. Powerball, though, still claims six of the eight largest lottery jackpots history — including January 2016’s $1.586 billion prize.
Both national games are associated with the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery. The state gambling organization also tracks monthly ticket sales in every Natural State county.
In its most Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration disclosure report, the state organization showed Columbia County, in total, sold $336,495 worth of lotto tickets in June. That mark is down slightly form the month before, when in May sales were $348,690.
Lafayette County saw the same trend, as did the state as a whole. The neighboring county had sales of $81,757 in May, while June was only $80,286 — making for a drop of 0.98 percent in sales. Columbia County was almost identical in terms of ratio, with a 0.982 percent drop. The state also saw a 0.93 percent falloff, going from roughly $40.686 million in May to $37.665 in June.
Natural State Jackpot draws for a winner every night at 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The prize is an estimated $135,000.