Mega Millions® Jackpot Soars To $625 Million
Players Pool Together For Total Jackpots of $1.175B
CHICAGO—Overnight the Mega Millions jackpot for the draw on Tuesday, January 12 has soared again and is now an estimated $625 million.
As Illinois residents continue to stay at home and work from home, many lottery players are finding another way to stay connected - by dreaming together through a ‘virtual’ lottery pool.
And if their numbers come up, they’ll be joining a long list of lottery pool winners - including a group of 12 co-workers from Chicago, Illinois who won $118 million with Mega Millions back in May 2012.
The top 10 Mega Millions pool winners are listed below:
Rank |
Prize Value |
Where Won |
When |
1 |
$543 million |
11 member office pool from |
July 2018 |
2 |
$437 million |
23 co-workers from |
January 2019 |
3 |
$319 million |
7 co-workers from |
March 2011 |
4 |
$216 million |
10 co-workers from |
March 2009 |
5 |
$118 million |
12 co-workers from |
May 2012 |
6 |
$108 million |
11 co-workers from |
August 2002 |
7 |
$106 million |
5 friends from |
September 2015 |
8 |
$99 million |
22 co-workers from |
August 2011 |
9 |
$41 million |
14 people from |
March 2013 |
10 |
$16 million |
Co-workers from |
November 2002 |
Here are 5 simple tips for setting up a virtual Lottery pool:
Designate a group leader who is responsible for the lottery pool management
Choose a fun team name
Make copies of the purchased tickets for each member in your group
Manage your members with our Illinois Lottery Pool Sign-up Sheet
Keep accurate records for each drawing and be sure to include the amount of money collected, number of tickets purchased, numbers selected on each ticket, and a record of winnings and prize distribution.
For more information on group play, please visit Group Play 101 on the Illinois Lottery website.
With the Mega Millions jackpot at $615 million and the Powerball jackpot at $550 million, Illinois Lottery players now have $1.165 billion in prizes to play for. This is the highest combined jackpot total for Mega Millions and Powerball since October 2018, and only the second time ever that both games have simultaneously had jackpots on offer larger than $500 million.
It’s never been easier for Illinois residents 18 years of age or older to get in on the fun and purchase an Illinois Lottery ticket with multiple ways to play. Tickets can be purchased in-store, online and on the Illinois Lottery’s mobile app.
Mega Millions is played every Tuesday and Friday night with the next draw taking place tonight, Tuesday, January 12 at 10 p.m. (CT). Powerball is played every Wednesday and Saturday night with the next draw taking place tomorrow, Wednesday, January 13 at 10 p.m. (CT).
About the Illinois Lottery:
Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery has contributed over $21 billion (since 1985) to the state’s Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars to the Capital Projects Fund and to special causes like homelessness prevention, Illinois Veterans services, the fight against breast cancer, MS research, Special Olympics, police memorials and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to playing in-store, the Illinois Lottery offers online and mobile play for all draw-based Illinois Lottery games at illinoislottery.com. Players must be at least 18 years old.