Mega Millions, Powerball: Illinois' Biggest Payouts Of 2018

ILLINOIS — The combined winnings for the Mega Millions and the Powerball jackpot this weekend have reached over half a billion dollars.

The drawing for the Mega Millions prize of $422,000,000 takes place Friday at 10 p.m. Central time. If you don’t get lucky in that drawing, you could still win big in the Powerball drawing that takes place on Saturday just before 10 p.m. The Powerball jackpot this weekend is $130,000,000.

Individual lottery jackpots have far exceeded the combined prize money in play for this weekend. In January 2016, the Powerball jackpot reached $1.6 billion and the winnings were split among three lucky winners in California, Tennessee and Florida.

While you may not win the big prize, you could still walk away with a good chunk of money in either of the two games. In Illinois, the biggest jackpot so far in 2018 was a $4.25 million payout in January to a retiree in Forest Park.

Other big jackpots for 2018:

• January: $2 million to an Indian Head Park resident
• February: A Joliet resident won $4 million

Those pale in comparison to a $393 jackpot won by a Palos Heights woman in August 2017 — the largest win ever in Illinois Lottery history. "It was a surreal, an out of body experience when I saw all those numbers that matched," Pat Busking said of finding out she'd bought the winning ticket at Nick's BBQ in Palos Heights (a restaurant that has since moved to Alsip).

Be sure to check Patch for the Mega Millions and Powerball winning numbers on Friday and Saturday.

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