TheMega Millionsdrawing at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on October 23rd , 2018 was , according to the lottery ’s internet site , for an estimated $ 1.6 billion . It could have been big potential payout in the history oflotteries , eclipsing the previous record$1.586 billion Powerball prizepaid out to winner in California , Florida and Tennessee back in January 2016 .
As you might opine , Mega Millions tickets sell like crazy where people can get them — in 44 states and the District of Columbia , plus the U.S. Virgin Islands — when kitty get that huge .
So why are drawing jackpot grow so mind - bogglingly tremendous now ?
It all start when officialsbegan tinkeringwith the rule in an effort to decrease the chance of gain a pot , so that the prizes had more voltage to spring up and grow . The idea is that once the kitty get into the nine or 10 figures , first - time player and even people who might normally scoff at the notion will betempted to buy tickets .
Powerball was the first tochange its rulesin October 2015 , increasing the egg kitty for the principal routine and decoct it for the Powerball , which change the betting odds of come through the top prize from close to one - in-175 million to one - in-292 million .
Then , in October 2017 , Mega Millionsmade its own changesto make it more difficult to win . Under the old system , players picked five numbers from one to 75 , and a Mega number from one to 15 . The new rules take them to plunk five numbers from one to 70 and a Mega issue from one to 25 . That boosted the odds from about one - in-259 million to one - in-303 million .
A single someone in South Carolina picked the magic Mega Millions number on October 23 , 2018 , to win the $ 1.537 billion pot . This jackpot fell just short of the 2016 all - time U.S. drawing record of $ 1.586 billion .
