Biggest Mega Millions jackpot in a year

68 tickets just missed winning the jackpot

By Todd Northrop

This is the time when both lottery regulars and casual players jump in with both feet.

The Mega Millions lottery jackpot has entered into the top 25 jackpots of all time, now sitting at number 17.  It is the kind of top prize that makes people do a double-take at the cash register and throw down some extra bucks for a shot at glory. 

And not only is the annuity jackpot nearing the top of the charts, but the cash value is blowing the lid off at a whopping $205.5 million.

This is the largest Mega Millions jackpot since March 25, 2011, when seven state workers from Albany, New York, won a $319 million Mega Millions jackpot (see $319M lottery winners revealed, Lottery Post, March 31, 2011).

But this time the lump-sum cash value is almost $3 million higher than the $202.9 million won a year ago by the seven co-workers from Albany.

The mammoth prize to be offered Friday is the result of 16 draws without a winner. The run-up started as a $12 million prize on Jan. 27.

The winning numbers for Tuesday, March 20, 2012 were 1, 4, 6, 11, and 14, with Mega Ball number 30. The Megaplier number was 4.

Even though nobody won the jackpot Tuesday, an astonishing 68 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $250,000 prize: 21 from California, 1 from Idaho, 1 from Illinois, 2 from Indiana, 3 from Kentucky, 1 from Maryland, 3 from Massachusetts, 9 from Michigan, 2 from Missouri, 5 from New Jersey, 8 from New York, 2 from Ohio, 2 from Pennsylvania, 1 from South Carolina, 1 from Tennessee, 4 from Texas, 1 from Vermont, and 1 from Wisconsin.

The 21 California winners will each be awarded prizes of $56,382, because California awards all prizes in a pari-mutuel formula, which calculates the prize amount based on the number of tickets sold and the number of winners in each prize category. Even though the total prize pool for the second prize was $1,184,022, the fact that there were an unprecedented 21 winners made each winner's cut less than normal.

The unusual number of second prize winners is likely due to the fact that all of the first five numbers were less than 31 — "birthday numbers", in lottery lingo.  Since one of the most popular ways to play the lottery is to pick numbers based on birthdays of family members, lottery drawings containing all low numbers normally produce many winners.

The amazing thing is that none of those 68 tickets matching the first five numbers matched Mega Ball number 30 — it too being a birthday number.

The winning numbers for Friday's Mega Millions lottery drawing will be published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) right after the drawing takes place at 11:00 PM Eastern Time.

USA Mega is one of the few lottery Web sites with a robust technology backbone that keeps it running strong, even when massive player traffic melts down other state lottery Web sites.

The site provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States's two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.

Lottery players who want to see the Friday's Mega Millions after-tax jackpot amount for both the annuity and cash value can visit USA Mega's Jackpot Analysis page, which calculates the tax withholdings for every state that offers Mega Millions.

USA Mega is the originator of the Jackpot Analysis feature.

Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time

Friday's Mega Millions jackpot currently stands as the 17th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States.  That position may rise before the drawing Friday night, as lotteries are typically conservative in their initial estimates, and brisk sales may push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.

If nobody wins Friday, it's anyone's guess how high it will go.

1. Mega Millions: $390 million, Mar. 6, 2007 - Georgia, New Jersey
2. Mega Millions: $380 million, Jan. 4, 2011 - Idaho, Washington
3. Powerball: $365 million, Feb. 18, 2006 - Nebraska
4. The Big Game: $363 million, May 9, 2000 - Illinois, Michigan
5. Powerball: $340 million, Oct. 19, 2005 - Oregon
6. Powerball: $336.4 million, Feb. 11, 2012 - Rhode Island
7. Mega Millions: $336 million, Aug. 28, 2009 - California, New York
8. The Big Game: $331 million, Apr. 16, 2002 - Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey
9. Mega Millions: $330 million, Aug. 31, 2007 - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
10. Mega Millions: $319 million, Mar. 25, 2011 - New York
11. Mega Millions: $315 million, Nov. 15, 2005 - California
12. Powerball: $314.9 million, Dec. 26, 2002 - West Virgina
13. Powerball: $314.3 million, Aug. 25, 2007 - Indiana
14. Powerball: $295.7 million, Jul. 29, 1998 - Indiana
15. Powerball: $295 million, Aug. 25, 2001 - Delaware, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Hampshire
16. Mega Millions: $294 million, Jul. 2, 2004 - Massachusetts
17. Mega Millions: $290 million, Mar. 23, 2012 (preliminary estimate, not won yet)
18. Powerball: $276.3 million, Mar. 15, 2008 - West Virgina
19. Mega Millions: $275 million, Feb. 22, 2008 - Georgia
20. Mega Millions: $270 million, Feb. 28, 2006 - Ohio
21. Mega Millions: $266 million, May 4, 2010 - California
22. Mega Millions: $265 million, Apr. 18, 2006 - Ohio
23. Powerball: $261.6 million, Jun. 2, 2010 - Ohio
24. Powerball: $261.3 million, Jul. 9, 2003 - Missouri, Pennsylvania
25. Powerball: $259.9 million, Aug. 19, 2009 - South Carolina

For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

• Mega Millions: 12
• Powerball: 11
• The Big Game: 2

The Big Game is the original name of Mega Millions, from the game's first drawing on Sep. 6, 1996 through May 14, 2002.  The name was changed to Mega Millions starting with the May 17, 2002 drawing.