(NEXSTAR) — For a second time in 2024, Mega Millions players have a chance to win a record-setting jackpot.
Ahead of Tuesday’s drawing, the Mega Millions jackpot sits at an estimated $681 million, with a cash value of $336.1 million.
The current pot has been growing since a $552 million prize was won in Illinois in early June. That prize stands — for now — as the ninth-largest in Mega Millions history.
The $681 million jackpot ranks as the seventh-largest in game history. To climb any higher in the rankings, the jackpot will need to surpass $1 billion, a feat that has happened only six times in Mega Millions history.
That includes the $1.128 billion prize won by a ticket sold in New Jersey in March (which has not yet been claimed, according to game officials). It ranks as the fifth-largest Mega Millions jackpot.
To become the largest, the pot would have to surpass $1.602 billion, a threshold set by a single ticket sold in Florida last summer.
Here are the 10 largest Mega Millions jackpots on record as well as where the current jackpot ranks:
- $1.602 billion: Aug. 8, 2023; Florida
- $1.537 billion: Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina
- $1.348 billion: Jan. 13, 2023; Maine
- $1.337 billion: July 29, 2022; Illinois
- $1.128 billion: March 26, 2024; New Jersey
- $1.050 billion: Jan. 22, 2021; Michigan
- Est. $681 million (current jackpot)
- $656 million: Mar. 30, 2012; Illinois, Kansas, and Maryland
- $648 million: Dec. 17, 2013; California and Georgia
- $552 million: June 4, 2024: Illinois
While it’s possible the Mega Millions jackpot will grow before Tuesday’s drawing, it’s unlikely to become one of the largest among Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots.
Should no ticket match all six winning numbers drawn at 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 3, the jackpot will grow again before the drawing on Saturday, Sept. 7.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Tickets are $2 and there are nine ways to win a prize. The odds of winning the game’s top prize are 1 in 302.6 million.
Can you increase your chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot?
Your chances of winning the Mega Millions grand prize are slim, even slightly worse than your odds of winning the Powerball jackpot.
Still, some data suggests certain numbers may be more likely to win. Since October 2017, when the main ball pool shifted from 75 to 70 and the Mega Ball pool grew from 15 to 25, the five most frequently drawn white balls are 3, 10, 17, 14 and 31, and the most frequently drawn gold Mega Balls are 11, 22, 24, 18 and 4, according to Lotto America.
If you prefer the cold numbers, or those that haven’t been drawn recently, you may want to consider 41, 52, 39, 13 and 43 for the main pool, and 10, 1, 9, 15 and 18 for the Mega Ball. Trying to pick the correct combination of these numbers may prove futile, though.
Sticking with the hot and cold method, you may even try buying your ticket in a state that has been winning recently, or a state that’s far overdue for a win. This year, only Illinois and New Jersey have sold jackpot-winning tickets, but in 2023, New York seemed to be the lucky spot, selling three grand-prize-winning stubs.
Twenty states (not including the states that do not participate in Mega Millions) are still searching for their first jackpot.
Regardless of whether you play the “hot” or “cold” numbers, travel across state lines to purchase your ticket, or use another method (like lottery wheeling or the Delta Lotto System), it’s important to note that your odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are the same as anyone else’s: 1 in 302.6 million.