By Rich McKay
(Reuters) -An estimated $1.1 billion jackpot was up for grabs in the multistate Mega Millions drawing on Tuesday night, one of the richest jackpots in the lottery's history.
The drawing, at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT Wednesday), selected the winning numbers of 8, 24, 30, 45, 61, and the Mega Ball number 12.
No winners were immediately announced.
This was the 30th drawing since the last Mega Millions winner hit the jackpot in April. The winner or winners must match the correct six double-digit numbers on a $2 ticket.
If there was a single winner on Tuesday, the lucky ticket holder can have the estimated jackpot paid out over 30 years, or receive an estimated $550.2 million lump sum payment.
The odds of winning are minuscule: A buyer of a single Mega Millions lottery ticket has about a 1-in-300 million chance of containing all the correct numbers.
The jackpot is among the highest Mega Millions prizes ever, topped only by a $1.537 billion jackpot that a single ticket holder in South Carolina won in 2018.
But Tuesday's purse is only about half the size of a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won by a single-ticket holder in California in November 2022. That ranks as the largest lottery prize total in U.S. history.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
