New Yorkers with lucky numbers are staring down some eye-popping lottery stakes this week, as the Mega Millions jackpot rockets to an estimated $800 million for Tuesday night and Powerball swells to about $663 million for Wednesday. The cash options are smaller, but still life-changing: roughly $344.2 million for Mega Millions and $290.4 million for Powerball, before the tax man takes a bite.
Mega Millions Cracks Top Ten At $800 Million
The Mega Millions top prize is set at $800 million, with a one-time cash payout of about $344.2 million, according to Mega Millions. The game’s media release notes that this pot lands in the top ten largest jackpots in the history of Mega Millions, and that only two jackpots have actually been hit so far this year. Drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET, which means the next shot at the big prize comes Tuesday night.
Powerball Nears $663 Million As U.K. Buyers Join In
Powerball is not exactly sitting on the sidelines. The advertised jackpot is an estimated $663 million with a cash value close to $290.4 million, per Powerball. Organizers also confirm that ticket sales recently expanded to the United Kingdom, a move the Multi-State Lottery Association says brings in a fresh crowd of players who can help jackpots climb even faster through rollovers. Powerball drawings are held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. ET.
Odds, Cash Choices And What You’re Really Playing
Tickets cost $5 for Mega Millions and $2 for Powerball, and winners who beat the odds face a big decision: take a 30-year annuity or grab a single lump-sum payout. Official game materials put the odds of landing the Mega Millions jackpot at about 1 in 290,472,336, according to Mega Millions. Powerball’s long-shot odds sit at roughly 1 in 292,201,338, per the Colorado Lottery.
Those headline jackpot numbers are based on the annuity. The instant cash option is substantially lower, and the take-home shrinks again after federal and state withholdings. In other words, even a huge win ends up smaller than the billboard suggests, though it is still more than enough to retire your MetroCard for good.
New York’s Cut And A Nudge To Play It Safe
For New York, all this lotto fever is about more than daydreams. The New York Lottery is one of the country’s largest, pouring about $3.7 billion into Lottery Aid to Education for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, according to ABC7 New York. That reporting also points out a key fine-print detail: U.K. entries in Powerball will pump money into the advertised jackpot pool only, not into all the lower-tier prize levels.
ABC7 New York further notes that the state’s HOPEline is available for anyone struggling with gambling issues. So if you are jumping into these monster drawings, New York officials would like you to keep it fun, keep it legal and know when to put the wallet away.
