Illinois Player Wins $533 Million Mega Millions Jackpot

The jackpot had not previously been won since a ticket holder from New Jersey banked $90 million on December 2nd, and a run of 27 consecutive drawings pushed it beyond the half-a-billion-dollar mark.

Ticket sales get stronger as the jackpot gets higher, so the growth of the top prize would probably have continued to accelerate, but instead someone managed to hit all the numbers on Tuesday night.

The winning numbers for March 10th were 16, 21, 30, 35 and 65, with a Mega Ball of 7. On an exciting night across the U.S., more than 415,000 prizes were paid out. As well as the jackpot winner, two players matched all five main numbers without the Mega Ball. Both got lucky with their multipliers, with someone from Maryland pocketing $4 million and a ticket holder from Illinois winning $5 million.

Head over to the Mega Millions Numbers page to view a full prize breakdown for this draw. You can even see the payouts for each participating state.

Illinois’ 17th Jackpot Win

Illinois has now been the scene of 17 Mega Millions jackpot wins, making it the sixth most successful state in the game. The latest win ranks as Illinois’ third-largest of all time, and the lucky player now has one year to claim their money.

They may decide to take the jackpot as an annuity over the next 29 years, or take the cash option of approximately $244.2 million if they’d prefer a one-time payment. Winners in Illinois are allowed to stay anonymous, so it is possible that no more information will be disclosed about their identity.

The biggest winners in Illinois have historically remained private. A partnership of two individuals from Des Plaines won $1.337 billion on Mega Millions in July 2022, while another anonymous player claimed $552 million in June 2024.

In the meantime, the jackpot will revert to its starting amount of $50 million. Head out to an authorized retailer in a participating state to take part, or order your tickets online if the option is available where you live.