With no one winning the Mega Millions or Powerball jackpots since April, there’s over $1 billion worth of top prizes available between the two lottery draw games this weekend. The estimated Mega Millions jackpot for Friday night’s drawing is $427 million, while a Powerball winner Saturday night could receive $590 million.
It’s been a little more than two years since a Michigander won either lottery jackpot. In 2021, an Oakland lottery club won a $1.05 billion Mega Millions prize, the largest such win ever recorded in the state.
“This kind of money will impact the families of our club members for generations to come,” club representative and attorney Kurt D. Panouses told the Michigan Lottery at the time. “We plan to stay humble and pay it forward through charitable giving in southeast Michigan.”
In February 2020, meanwhile, Cristy Davis won a $70 million Powerball jackpot.
How to play
Lottery tickets can be purchased at retailers across the state, and Michigan customers can also play lottery games online. Powerball drawings take place at 10:59 p.m. on every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, and the drawings are streamed live on Powerball’s website.
To win the Powerball jackpot, a customer needs to match all five numbers drawn plus the powerball. If a customer matches just the first five numbers, they still receive a $1 million prize. Matching four numbers and the powerball results in a $50,000 prize.
There’s also a “power play” option that multiplies non-jackpot prizes by up to 10 times, with a maximum of $2 million. Those options can be added for $1. Tickets without the “power play” option cost $2.
For the Mega Millions, drawings occur every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. The game is similar to Powerball, with customers needing to match the first five numbers and the sixth ball (the gold Mega ball) to win the jackpot. The odds of that happening are 1 in 302,575,350, according to the Mega Millions website.
Like Powerball, Mega Millions players win a $1 million prize if they hit the first five numbers but don’t match the sixth number drawn. There’s a 1 in 12,607,306 chance of that happening.
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