The national jackpot rolled once again, this time to $850 million with a cash option of $628.2 million. The $100 million increase came as there were no winners last week, with only eight players walking away with $1 million each. While one of the $1 million winners was in Michigan, it is still unclear where the ticket was sold.
$850 Million Jackpot
The drawing to be made on January 19 will be the second-largest jackpot in the game’s history. Likewise, it will be the third-largest in U.S lottery history. In the last drawback of January 15, 2020, eight tickets sold matched all the five white numbers to draw $1 million.
However, none of the winners who matched the five white numbers played the megaplie, which could have seen their winnings bumped to $4 million. Christy Davis, from Michigan, was the last player to walk away with a win on Mega Millions of Powerball jackpot. The Waterford resident in Michigan walked away with $70 million playing Powerball in February of last year.
Unclaimed Wins
While it is common for winners to claim their winnings, some lottery wins have gone unclaimed in the recent past. In 2019, a $1 million winning ticket sold in Hartland was never claimed. The money was later disbursed to the State’s School Aid Fund.
Similarly, more than $500,000 in unclaimed lottery prizes will begin slipping away this week in Michigan. The $500,000 in unclaimed wins is for tickets purchased from January through May of last year.
Likewise, as the Jackpot continues to grow, Lottery officials have sounded warning bells warning players to be extremely cautious given an uptick in scam attempts. In a press release, the lottery officials reiterated there are no random awards of million-dollar prizes of merchandise for people participating. Likewise, players should ignore any sweepstakes or, when required to pay a fee to claim a real lottery prize.
