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Last Mega Millions drawing of 2022 offers $640 million jackpot

The lottery will close out 2022 with a bang as the Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $640 million for Friday’s drawing. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
The lottery will close out 2022 with a bang as the Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $640 million for Friday’s drawing. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The lottery will close out 2022 with a bang as the Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $640 million for Friday's drawing.

Nobody hit all six numbers in Tuesday's drawing, worth $565 million, setting the eve of New Year's Eve up to be a historic game. The $640 million jackpot will be the largest ever up for grabs in the final week of the year.

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"It's by far the largest Mega Millions prize ever offered in the final week of any year and could provide someone with a very happy New Year's celebration," the lottery said in a news release.

The cash option for the $640 million jackpot is about $328.3 million. This is the sixth time the Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed the $600 million mark in its 20-year history.

The jackpot was last won Oct. 14, when players in Florida and California took a share of the grand prize, an estimated $502 million.

Since then, 21 drawings have gone without a jackpot winner, but about 17 million prizes have been awarded, albeit at many more modest take-home amounts. Forty players have won $1 million across 18 states.

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Tuesday's numbers were 9, 13, 36, 59, 61 and Mega Ball 11. About 1.9 million winning tickets were sold, including five that matched the five white balls, which is worth $1 million, except in California. Two tickets matching five white balls were sold in California, winning $245,984 each.

The second-largest Mega Millions jackpot in history was won on July 29. An Illinois player won an estimated $1.3 billion. The largest jackpot was about $1.5 billion in 2018.

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