The size of Tuesday's jackpot is part of a trend toward bigger and bigger ones that took hold when Mega Millions and Powerball changed their rules and made the odds longer seeking better sales, the AP notes. Winners can stay anonymous in seven states in addition to South Carolina, but in the rest, winners' names are made public. Depending on the state, winners have from 180 days to a year to claim their prize." It will probably be days or even weeks before a winner steps forward to claim the prize, The Associated Press points out, adding, "Lottery officials and financial managers encourage people to take time to map out a strategy for investing their hundreds of millions of dollars, and winners must deal with security concerns befitting someone who suddenly is immensely wealthy. Powerball will hold its drawing Wednesday night for a jackpot estimated at $620 million or a cash value of $354.3 million. A previous record-holder was another Powerball jackpot, $758.7 million, won by a single ticket holder, from Massachusetts, in August 2017. The world record jackpot remains a Powerball prize of $1.586 billion, which was matched in January 2016 by three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee. Mega Millions tickets are $2 and are sold in 44 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Officials say the previous record Mega Millions jackpot was $656 million, which was shared by winners in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland. Mega Millions $1.6 billion jackpot spurs crowds to travel for tickets 02:42 Lottery officials had expected to sell 75 percent of them by Tuesday night's drawing, when Mega Millions host John Crow announced the winning numbers. Mega Millions has more than 302 million possible number combinations. It will be held Friday night but for an estimated $40 million jackpot. If no one had matched Tuesday's numbers, officials say the next drawing would have been for an estimated $2 billion jackpot. The Mega Millions jackpot had been soaring since July, when a group of office workers in California won $543 million. Otherwise, the jackpot is doled out over 29 years. The jackpot's lump-sum cash value was $878 million, an option favored by most winners. A Texas winner and one in Florida included the optional Megaplier, so those two tickets are worth $3 million each. They were bought in 17 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to the grand prize winner, the Mega Millions website says 36 tickets matched the five white balls to claim $1 million apiece.
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