DES MOINES, Iowa – The official results show that 108,143 tickets sold in Iowa won prizes in Friday’s world-record Mega Millions jackpot drawing, including two tickets that came within one number of having at least a share of the jackpot and won prizes of $10,000 each. The monster jackpot was split three ways by tickets purchased in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.
Here’s a look at Friday’s drawing and its Iowa results:
- A total of 108,143 tickets purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes ranging from $2 up to $10,000. The two tickets that each won a $10,000 prize matched four of the first five numbers drawn and the Mega Ball. They were both purchased in southwest Iowa, at Taylor Quik Pic, 11 East St. in Shelby; and Bucky’s Express, 15 N. 16th St. in Council Bluffs.
- The winning numbers in Friday’s $640 million Mega Millions jackpot drawing were: 2-4-23-38-46 and Mega Ball 23. The Megaplier was 3. Three tickets nationwide matched all six numbers drawn to win a share of the jackpot. They were purchased in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland. The Mega Millions jackpot returns to an estimated $12 million annuity ($8.6 million cash) for Tuesday’�s drawing.
- Iowa Lottery players bought nearly $4.8 million in Mega Millions tickets for Friday’s drawing, including nearly $3.2 million in tickets on Friday alone. During Friday’s busiest stretch from about 4-5 p.m., Mega Millions tickets were selling at about $6,000 per minute in Iowa. However, the average Mega Millions purchase on Friday in Iowa remained just $4. Lottery officials were pleased that Iowans enjoyed playing at a fun level.
- Strong sales in Iowa and across the country had pushed Friday’s world-record jackpot higher and higher as the week went on. The estimated jackpot amount Friday was $640 million annuity ($462 million cash). That is the largest jackpot ever in any lotto game.
- The world-record jackpot and the buzz surrounding it became one of the biggest trending topics Friday on the Internet. During this time of social media, it appears this event will be one that folks talk about for days.
- The odds of winning the jackpot in Mega Millions are about 1 in 175.7 million because there are about 175.7 million ways you can combine the numbers in the game to make a play. By tracking sales, lottery officials can estimate how many of the possible combinations have been purchased for a particular drawing. About 99 percent of all the possible combinations were purchased in Friday’s drawing.
- All the hub-bub surrounding the world-record Mega Millions jackpot took some of the initial “umph” away from some other big lottery news in Iowa this week, but the Iowa Lottery is still waiting to meet its latest big winner. Someone who bought a Powerball ticket at a Council Bluffs supermarket won a $1 million prize in Wednesday night’s drawing. It’s the third $1 million-winning Powerball ticket purchased in Iowa in a little more than a month.
The latest big-winning ticket, sold at Hy-Vee, 1745 Madison Ave. in Council Bluffs, came close to winning it all, matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball in Wednesday’s drawing. The winning numbers in the $50 million Powerball drawing were: 11-16-29-50-58 and Powerball 33. Nobody won the jackpot that night, so the Powerball jackpot for Saturday’s drawing rose to an estimated $60 million annuity ($36.2 million cash).
