Mega Millions Winning Numbers For Tuesday, Oct 16: $667M Jackpot

The Mega Millions jackpot has grown to a massive $667 million for the Tuesday drawing. No one matched all six numbers on Friday, October 12 causing the jackpot to jump again. If a player wins the jackpot on Tuesday, they'll have an option to take a $380 million lump sum payout.

Winning numbers: The winning Mega Millions numbers for Tuesday, October 16 were : 3, 45, 49, 61, and 69. The gold Mega ball was 9. The Megaplier was 5.

The current jackpot surpassed the previous largest jackpot in history on Tuesday morning. In March 2012, the prize spiked to $656 million before being won. In the six years since that drawing, only one other jackpot has come close to the $656 million mark, a 2013 prize that swelled to $648 million.

That is, until now. Now, there's a $667 million jackpot to be won.

A single play costs $2. Players pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers – five different numbers from 1 to 70 and one number from 1 to 25 (the Mega Ball number). Players can also use an easy pick feature, where a computer selects random numbers for them. To win the jackpot, a player much match all six numbers.

The odds of picking the correct numbers on five white balls and one yellow ball are one in 259 million. No matter how many people play Mega Millions, the chances of winning never change. The chances of winning are based on the amount of number combinations, not the number of players buying tickets, say lottery officials.

Mega Millions is played in 44 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings take place at 11 p.m. ET each Tuesday and Friday.

After a jackpot is won, the Mega Millions game automatically resets to $40 million and grows with each lottery where there is not a winning jackpot ticket sold.

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