Lottery jackpots on the rise

A digital billboard in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday shows jackpots for the Mega Millions and Powerball games. Lottery players have a chance to win the largest jackpots in nearly two years as Mega Millions has grown to $600 million and Powerball has climbed to $550 million.
A digital billboard in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday shows jackpots for the Mega Millions and Powerball games. Lottery players have a chance to win the largest jackpots in nearly two years as Mega Millions has grown to $600 million and Powerball has climbed to $550 million.

DES MOINES, Iowa - After a long stretch of relatively paltry prizes, U.S. lottery players now have a choice of games that offer combined jackpots of more than $1 billion.

The jackpot for Mega Millions' Tuesday night drawing is up to $615 million, and the top prize in the Powerball game reached $550 million for Wednesday's drawing.

It has been nearly two years since the two national lottery games offered such giant
prizes.

The projected Mega Millions grand prize is the eighth largest in U.S. history, and the Powerball jackpot is the 12th biggest. Both still pale in comparison to the largest prize, a $1.58 billion Powerball jackpot won by three players in 2016.

Lottery prizes have been growing more slowly since last spring, when officials reduced guaranteed minimums and stopped increases because the coronavirus caused sales to slow.

Carole Gentry, a spokeswoman for Maryland Lottery and Gaming, said Monday that the prizes are giant now mainly because it's been months since anyone won either jackpot. But Gentry also speculated that more people were buying tickets because "it's something fun to focus on in the new year," causing prizes to rise more quickly.

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