Washington [US], December 25: For US lottery players, a fortune of up to $1 billion awaits them this Christmas Eve, and everyone has an equal chance of winning.
The Mega Millions jackpot on Christmas Eve (December 24) in the US surpassed the $1 billion mark, marking the 7th time the prize has surpassed this figure in Mega Millions history, according to The Hill newspaper .
The prize will be announced at 11am today, December 25 (Vietnam time). If there is a winner, this will be the largest Mega Millions prize ever in December and mark the second time someone has won the jackpot on Christmas Eve.
If there is indeed a winner, the luckiest person on Christmas Eve in the US could receive the prize in installments over 30 years, or receive a one-time payment of $448.8 million.
Overall, however, 2024 is an unlucky year for lottery players. The Mega Millions jackpot has only been claimed three times this year, the lowest number of times the lottery has been won in a single year since it began in the United States.
Unsurprisingly, the odds of winning are slim, with each person who buys a Mega Millions ticket having about a 1 in 300 million (or specifically 302,575,350) chance of getting all the correct numbers.
To put that into perspective, the chances of a person being struck by lightning or attacked by a bear in Yellowstone National Park in the US are even higher.
The most recent Mega Millions jackpot was announced on September 10. To date, the company has held 29 drawings but no one has won the jackpot.
Still, no one is stopping people from dreaming of winning the lottery. Americans in 45 states, Washington DC and the Virgin Islands can try their luck for just $2 a ticket.
Players can choose 6 numbers from 2 different combinations: 5 numbers from 1-70 and 1 number from 1-25. They can buy lottery tickets no later than 15 minutes before the drawing time.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot in US history came from a single ticket, winning $1.58 billion in the drawing on the night of August 8, 2023.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper