WASHINGTON — Less than a week after a $366.7 million Powerball jackpot was claimed, Mega Millions players were hoping to score a similar amount with a $370 million jackpot on the line for the July 5 drawing -- but with no winner, the sum has grown to $400 million.
While no one woke up $370 million richer, two people in California matched five and won $1 million each.
The Mega Millions jackpot is the second-largest this year. A winner can either take the full $400 million prize in installments or a $231.7 million lump sum payout. In a news release, Mega Millions said this is the third largest jackpot it's ever offered in the month of July.
The winning numbers Tuesday were 27 - 31 - 50 - 51 - 61 with a Mega Ball of 21 and a Megaplier of 4x.
The jackpot was last won at $20 million on April 15. Mega Millions said since then, 21 tickets have been worth $1 million or more. Those tickets were sold in Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.
While the prize money is certainly life-changing, it's far from breaking lottery records and it isn't the largest of the year. Back in January, a California woman was the sole winner of a $426 million Mega Millions jackpot. Last year, a Mega Millions jackpot cracked the $1 billion mark for just the second time. A four-member suburban Detroit lottery club won that $1.05 billion jackpot and chose the lump sump, receiving $557 million after taxes.
During Friday's drawing last week, there weren't any huge winners. But for lucky people in three states, close was good enough.
Three tickets sold in Arkansas, Georgia and Pennsylvania matched five, winning $1 million each.
And last week, a winning Powerball ticket was sold at a Jolley Short Stop convenience store, winning one person in Vermont a cool $366.7 million. It was the first time in Powerball history that a jackpot-winning ticket had been sold in the state. That winner has yet to come forward to claim their prize.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.