CHICAGO – The jackpots continue to roll, and the next drawing for Mega Millions has prizes valued at nearly a billion dollars, with a $510 million Mega Millions jackpot and a $470 million Powerball? jackpot up for grabs. Combined, the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots are $980 million and players across the nation are swooping in to be in with a chance to win big.
January has a history of being a lucky month for Mega Millions players. There have been 16 Mega Millions jackpots won during the month of January across the U.S. since the game launched in 2002. That includes three of the top Mega Millions prizes: $451 million on January 5, 2018; $437 million on January 1, 2019; and $380 million on January 14, 2011.
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January 2021 is turning out to be a great month for Illinois players as well. So far this month, 57,665 Mega Millions prizes have been won across the State - and the top prize is still up for grabs! The next Mega Millions drawing is tonight, Friday, January 8, with an estimated $510 million jackpot. If won, it would be the seventh largest jackpot in the game’s history. To play Mega Millions, players select five numbers from 1 to 70 and one Mega Ball number from 1 to 25. There are nine prize tiers, ranging from $2 to the jackpot.
It’s never been easier for Illinois residents 18 years of age or older to get in on the fun and purchase their Illinois Lottery ticket with multiple ways to play. Tickets can be purchased in-store, online, and on the Illinois Lottery’s mobile app.
Mega Millions is played every Friday and Tuesday night with the next draw taking place tonight, Friday, January 8 at 10 p.m. (CT). Powerball is played on Wednesday and Saturday with the next prize draw taking place tonight on Saturday, January 9 at 9:59pm CT.
About the Illinois Lottery:
Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery has contributed over $21 billion (since 1985) to the state’s Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars to the Capital Projects Fund and to special causes like Illinois Veterans services, the fight against breast cancer, MS research, Special Olympics, police memorials and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to playing in-store, the Illinois Lottery offers online and mobile play for all draw-based Illinois Lottery games at illinoislottery.com. Players must be at least 18 years old.
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