AUSTIN – Texas Lottery® players continue to be caught in the grip of jackpot fever! As sales and excitement build, the jackpot prize for the Friday, Aug. 4 Mega Millions drawing has been raised to estimated annuitized $1.35 billion – now the fourth largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history and the second largest in Mega Millions history. Tonight’s jackpot prize offers a cash value worth an estimated $659.5 million. If there is no jackpot winner for tonight’s Mega Millions drawing, the jackpot prize for the Tuesday, Aug. 8 drawing will roll to an estimated annuitized $1.55 billion.
“The anticipation and enthusiasm surrounding this massive Mega Millions jackpot prize continues to sweep Texas, with our players daydreaming about what they may do if they win that prize,” said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery. “While we’re keeping our fingers crossed that a Texas Lottery player wins this jackpot, we want to remind our players to play responsibly. It only takes one ticket to win. Also, if it appears that you have the jackpot winning ticket, we encourage you to sign the ticket, put it in a safe place, seek financial and legal advice and call the Texas Lottery to schedule an appointment to claim the prize.”
Friday’s drawing will be the 31st in the current Mega Millions jackpot run since starting as an estimated annuitized $20 million for the April 21 drawing. This is the largest Mega Millions jackpot up for grabs since the Oct. 23, 2018 drawing when it reached an estimated annuitized $1.537 billion – the game’s largest jackpot prize, which was won by an out of state player.
Texas has had 13 Mega Millions jackpot prize winners since it joined the game in 2003. Its most recent winner came in September 2019 when a Leander resident won an estimated annuitized $227 million prize. The claimant chose the cash value option and received $157,091,592 before taxes; the largest prize ever paid out to a single Texas Lottery player.
Since the start of 2023, eight Texas Lottery players have won second-tier Mega Millions prizes of $1 million or larger, including five during the current jackpot run. Most recently, a second-tier prize worth $4 million was sold in Burnet for the Tuesday, Aug. 1 drawing. Before that, an Anna resident claimed a second-tier prize worth $4 million for the July 25 drawing and a Dallas resident claimed a $1 million second-tier prize for the June 30 drawing; the ticket was sold in Austin. Prior to that a Houston resident claimed a $3 million prize for the June 16 drawing and a Corpus Christi resident claimed a $1 million prize for the drawing held on May 9.
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 Friday, Aug. 4. The retailer that sells a jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket may be eligible to receive up to a $1 million retailer bonus.
