No one wins Mega Millions; jackpot reaches $720 million

(NEXSTAR) — The Mega Millions jackpot has risen to an estimated $720 million after no winning ticket was sold — again. It’s now one of two national lotteries with enormous jackpots but equally enormous odds against winning them.

No ticket for Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing matched the white balls 19, 22, 31, 37, 54 and the gold Mega Ball 18.

The new jackpot is Mega Million’s seventh-largest ever, the lottery said in a news release. On Monday, the nation’s other big lottery game — Powerball — also went without a winner, and its jackpot now stands at an estimated $1 billion, the third-largest ever for that game.

For Mega Millions, the estimated $720 million jackpot in the next drawing would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which, for Tuesday night’s drawing, was an estimated $369.6 million.

You may want to think twice before collecting the cash option though. Winners of giant jackpots nearly always take the cash, and financial advisers say that might be a mistake.

The largest-ever Mega Millions jackpot was $1.537 billion won by an anonymous player in South Carolina on Oct. 23, 2018.

The new jackpot puts it among the largest in the game’s history:

$1.537 billion: Oct. 23, 2018 (South Carolina)
$1.348 billion: Jan. 13, 2023 (Maine)
$1.337 billion: July 29, 2022 (Illinois)
$1.050 billion: Jan. 22, 2021 (Michigan)
$656 million: Mar. 30, 2012 (Illinois, Kansas, and Maryland)
$648 million: Dec. 17, 2013 (California and Georgia)
$640 million: (estimated ahead of Tuesday’s drawing)
$543 million: July 24, 2018 (California)
$536 million: July 8, 2016 (Indiana)
$533 million: Mar. 30, 2018 (New Jersey)

Despite the game’s long odds of 1 in 302.6 million, players continue to purchase tickets as the size of the grand prize grows.

The last time a Mega Millions player hit the top prize was April 18.

The next Mega Millions drawing will be at 11 p.m. ET on Friday. Tickets start at $2 each and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.