August 8 Mega Millions Jackpot is LARGEST in Game History
AUSTIN – It continues to climb and Texas Lottery® players are keeping their eyes on the prize, as the Mega Millions® jackpot for the Tuesday, Aug. 8 drawing has been raised to an estimated annuitized $1.58 billion – the largest jackpot in game history and the third largest in U.S. lottery history. Tonight’s jackpot prize offers a cash value worth an estimated $783.3 million. If there is no jackpot winner for tonight’s Mega Millions drawing, the jackpot prize for the Friday, Aug. 11 drawing will roll to an estimated annuitized $1.8 billion.
“The last month has featured some exciting jackpots for Texas Lottery players, now they have a shot at playing for the biggest prize in Mega Millions history,” said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery. “That momentum is leading to sales pouring in at a robust rate over the last few weeks, which is helping the Texas Lottery fulfill its mission of generating much needed revenue for public education in Texas. While we’re hoping to have Texas’ first Mega Millions jackpot winner in nearly four years and our first-ever lottery billionaire, 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.”
Tuesday’s drawing will be the 32nd 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, nine Texas Lottery players have won second-tier Mega Millions prizes of $1 million or larger, including six during the current jackpot run – three of which have occurred over the last four drawings. Most recently, a second-tier prize worth $1 million was sold in Tyler for the Friday, Aug. 4 drawing and a winning ticket worth $4 million was sold in Burnet for the Tuesday, Aug. 1 drawing; both prizes have yet to be claimed.
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, Aug. 8. The retailer that sells a jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket may be eligible to receive up to a $1 million retailer bonus.
