2 NJ Lottery Players Win Big As Powerball Soars To $1.73B

NEW JERSEY — As the Powerball jackpot goes unclaimed yet again, two New Jersey lottery players are celebrating $1 million and $3 million prizes from another popular game — Mega Millions.

The two Garden State tickets matched all five balls drawn for Mega Millions on Friday to win $1 million, and one of the players purchased the Megaplier option to triple their prize.

The winning Mega Millions numbers drawn on Friday night were: 12, 24, 46, 57 and 66. The Mega Ball was 22, with a Megaplier of 3X. The New Jersey Lottery said both of these tickets were purchased using Jackpocket, an online lottery website.

Mega Millions drawings are on Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. On Friday, someone in Texas scored the $360 million jackpot.

And, no New Jersey players won the jackpot or any seven-figure in Monday night's Powerball drawing, as the jackpot rises to $1.73 billion. The state lottery said six New Jersey ticketholders did match four of the five white balls and the Powerball drawn, winning the $50,000 third-tier prize.

The next Powerball drawing is Wednesday at 10:59 p.m.

Winning the jackpot — now the second-largest in Powerball history, and the seventh-largest among U.S. lottery jackpots — seems a matter of sheer luck. The odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 292.2 million. The odds of winning any prize are better, at 1 in 24.9. Lesser prize amounts range from $4 up to $1 million.

Tickets in New Jersey must have been purchased by 9:59 p.m. to be eligible for Wednesday’s drawing, which will be held at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Each Powerball play costs $2, and adding Power Play or Double Play is optional (both are $1 apiece to add).

A jackpot winner in Wednesday’s drawing may claim the full prize through annualized payments over 30 years or the cash option, or they may take the $756.6.7 million cash option. In either case, the winnings are taxable.

Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Powerball numbers are drawn three times a week — at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Florida Lottery studio in Tallahassee.