AUSTIN – After there were no winners for Friday night’s Mega Millions jackpot drawing, Texas Lottery® players can begin the new year by playing for one of the largest jackpot prizes in the game’s history. The Mega Millions jackpot for the Tuesday, Jan. 3 drawing stands at an estimated annuitized $785 million, the fourth largest jackpot prize in Mega Millions history and the sixth largest in U.S. lottery history. Tuesday’s drawing offers a cash value worth an estimated $395 million. If there is no jackpot winner for tonight’s Mega Millions drawing, the jackpot prize for the Friday, Jan. 6 drawing will roll to an estimated annuitized $940 million.
“Following a year of big jackpots, 2023 is getting started with one of the largest jackpots in lottery history,” said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery. “As great excitement builds for Tuesday night’s drawing, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the first Mega Millions jackpot winner of the new year is a Texas Lottery player. Most importantly, we also want to remind our players to play responsibly. It only takes one ticket to win.”
Tuesday’s drawing will be the 23rd in the current Mega Millions jackpot run since starting as an estimated annuitized $20 million for the Oct. 18, 2022 drawing. This is the largest Mega Millions jackpot up for grabs since the July 29, 2022 drawing when it reached an advertised $1.28 billion – the game’s second-largest jackpot prize, which was won by an out of state player. Two second-tier prizes worth $1 million each from the July 29, 2022 drawing have yet to be claimed by Texas Lottery players and will expire on Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. local time if not claimed by the deadline. The winning tickets for the unclaimed prizes were sold at RaceTrac #099, located at 1100 W. Park Blvd. in Plano, and at Fuel Maxx #47, located at 420 University Drive in Prairie View.
Texas has had 13 Mega Millions jackpot prize winners since it joined the game in 2003. Its most recent jackpot winner came in September 2019 when a Leander resident won an estimated annuitized $227 million, the largest prize ever paid out to a single Texas Lottery player.
In 2022, 13 Texas Lottery players won second-tier Mega Millions prizes of $1 million or larger, including two during the current jackpot run. A Whitesboro resident claimed a $2 million second-tier prize for the drawing held on Nov. 1, 2022 and a Texas Lottery player won a second-tier prize worth $1 million for the Dec. 20, 2022 drawing; the ticket was sold in Round Rock.
Mega Millions is played by choosing five numbers from a field of 70 and one Mega Ball number from the second field of 25 numbers. To win the Mega Millions jackpot, players must match all six numbers drawn including the Mega Ball. Players matching fewer numbers may not win the jackpot, but could still walk away winners. Mega Millions currently offers a $20 million starting jackpot and a second-tier (Match 5+0) prize of $1 million. By choosing the Megaplier® feature for $1 more per Play, players can multiply their non-jackpot winnings by two, three, four or five times, winning as much as $5 million.
Drawings are broadcast each Tuesday and Friday at 10:12 p.m. CT. Texas Lottery players can purchase Mega Millions tickets at more than 20,000 Texas Lottery retailers across the state. Ticket sales for the next Mega Millions drawing will close at 9:45 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Jan. 3. The retailer that sells a jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket may be eligible to receive up to a $1 million retailer bonus.
About the Texas Lottery
Beginning with the first ticket sold in 1992, the Texas Lottery has generated $36.1 billion in revenue for the state and distributed $78.5 billion in prizes to lottery players. Since 1997, the Texas Lottery has contributed $30.1 billion to the Foundation School Fund, which supports public education in Texas. As authorized by the Texas Legislature, certain Texas Lottery revenues benefit state programs including the Fund for Veterans’ Assistance. Since the first veterans’ themed scratch ticket game was launched in 2009, the Texas Lottery has contributed more than $199 million for programs supporting Texas veterans.
The Texas Lottery provides several entertaining games for lottery players including Powerball®, Mega Millions®, Lotto Texas®, All or Nothing™, Texas Two Step®, Pick 3™, Daily 4™, Cash Five® and scratch ticket games. For more information visit us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube or at texaslottery.com. PLAY RESPONSIBLY.
