“The lesson didn’t really go according to plan.” Math professor Nicholas Kapoor bought a Powerball ticket to demonstrate how improbable it is to win the lottery – and then he won $100,000. Here’s what he wants you to know about playing the Powerball.
A Mega Millions ticket sold at a Van Nuys liquor store was one of 13 nationwide that matched five numbers in Tuesday night's drawing.
It wasn't the 1.13 billion jackpot -- the eighth-largest prize in U.S. lottery history was won by someone who bought a ticket in New Jersey -- but the ticket is still worth a hefty $1,058,180. The ticket sold at D & K Liquor in the 15000 block of Saticoy Street in Van Nuys matched five numbers, just missing the Mega number.
Tickets with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, sold in other states are worth $1 million or a multiple of $1 million. California law requires major payoffs of lottery games to be paid on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning they are determined by sales and the number of winners.
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There are multiple ways to win money in the Mega Millions drawing. Twenty-four tickets matched four numbers plus the Mega for a prize of $6,108. Five-hundred fifth tickets matched four but missed the Mega for a $300 prize.
The other tickets matching five numbers were sold in New York, Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
The numbers drawn Tuesday were 7, 11, 22, 29, 38 and the Mega number was 4. It was the 31st drawing since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold on Dec. 8.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever, worth $1.602 billion, was sold on Aug. 8, 2023, in Florida. The last time someone won the game’s top prize was on Dec. 8, 2023, when two winning tickets were sold at the same gas station in Los Angeles, splitting the $394 million prize.
The odds of matching all five numbers and the Mega number are 1 in 302,575,350, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24.
The next big U.S. lottery drawing will be Wednesday night for an estimated $865 million Powerball jackpot. No one has won that prize since New Year’s Day, making for 36 drawings without a winner.
Lottery players in California have won or shared in the winnings of the top-four largest jackpots in Powerball history dating to 2016. All were worth $1 billion.
Almost all lottery draw games in California allow for 180 days from the date of the draw to claim a prize. The exceptions are Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots, which have a one-year deadline.
Claiming a prize of more than $600 requires an extensive claim process. A winner's full name, the name and location of the retailer who sold the winning ticket, the draw date of the win and the amount, including gross and net installment payments, are all considered matters of public record and subject to disclosure.
If you or someone you know has a gambling addiction, please call the National Council on Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700 to speak to a counselor. Help is also available via an online peer support forum at www.gamtalk.org, and additional resources can be found at NCPG website.
