The Biggest Lottery Jackpots of All Time

 

Table of contents:

• ABOUT POWERBALL
• ABOUT MEGA MILLIONS
• BILLION-DOLLAR JACKPOT
• TOP 10 JACKPOT WINNERS
• TOP 5 BILLION-DOLLAR WINNERS
• HOW TO BET ON POWERBALL FROM THE UK
• HOW TO BET ON MEGA MILLIONS FROM THE UK
• HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BET FROM THE UK?
• I WON A PRIZE - WHAT NOW?

About Powerball

Powerball was formed in April 1992 and is available in 46 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Draws take place on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday 04.00 UK time (GMT +1hr during BST).

In order to win the jackpot, you need to match 5 numbers from 1 to 69 plus a Powerball from 1 to 26. The odds of winning Powerball are 1 in 292,201,338.

The biggest lottery jackpot of all time was a staggering $2.04 billion. This was won by a single ticket holder in California on the 7th November, 2022.

Please note that Lottoland is not a lottery operator and you are not buying a ticket with an applicable lottery. You must be 18 years of age or older to register and bet. Please see the Terms and Conditions. 

About Mega Millions

Powerball’s long-time rival, Mega Millions, was created in 1996 as The Big Game, with the name changing in 2002. It is offered in 46 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Mega Millions draw takes place on Wednesday's and Saturday's 04:00 UK time (GMT +1hr during BST).

To win the jackpot you need to match 5 numbers from a pool of 70 plus a Megaball from 1 to 25. The odds of winning Mega Millions are 1 in 302,575,350.

Although Powerball holds the record for the biggest lottery jackpot of all time, Mega Millions consistently remains a fierce contender with the biggest Mega Millions jackpot of $1.602 billion which was won by a single ticket sold in Florida on the 8th August, 2023.

Billion-Dollar Jackpot

Many of us don't realise how big this sum of money is. Do you know what a billion dollars looks like? If you were to lay out end-to-end a billion $1 bills, it would go a long way; around 96,900 miles or 4 spins around the globe, to be precise. You could even spend $5,000 a day for more than 500 years before you would run out of money.

If you were to spend it all at once, you could buy a Premier League team, your pick of Airbus commercial planes, an island, send 2,544 students to Harvard or even take more than 3,000 people to space!

Top 10 Biggest Jackpot Winners

Unsurprisingly, the table for the biggest lottery winners in the world is dominated by Powerball and Mega Millions. The biggest ever EuroMillions jackpot to date is €240 million which was won on the 8th December, 2023. Still, this would not even place it in the top ten biggest world jackpots. 

However, it should be noted that lotteries in the US are heavily taxed, there is federal tax and most states also apply a state tax, this drastically reduces the amount that the winner takes home but even with these tax reductions, the amounts are so huge that they still dwarf the biggest jackpots elsewhere. 

***Won by three players

Top 5 Billion-Dollar Winners

1) $2.04 Billion - Powerball 

On the 7th of November 2022, an anonymous single-ticket winner from California, USA won the record-breaking $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot becoming the biggest single lottery winner in history. They bought the ticket from Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California. The business owner Joe Chahayed was gifted a bonus prize from Powerball of $1 million for selling the winning ticket. 

The winning numbers were 10, 33, 41, 47, 56 and the Powerball was 10.

2) $1.765 Billion - Powerball

On the 11th of October 2023, an indvidual from California won the $1.765 billion Powerball jackpot. 

The winning numbers were 24, 52, 40, 22, 64 and the Powerball was 10. 

3) $1.602 billion - Mega Millions

On the 8th of August 2023, a single ticket holder from Florida won the MegaMillions jackpot of $1.602 billion, with a cash value of $794.2 million.

This lucky individual made history as it is the biggest MegaMillions record jackpot to date and the second largerst single ticket win in lottery history. 

The triumphant combination of numbers was 13, 19, 20, 32, and 33, complemented by a golden Mega Ball numbered 14.

The Publix supermarket located in Neptune Beach, Florida, had the honor of vending the record breaking ticket.

4) $1.586 Billion - Powerball

On January 13, 2016, history was made the Powerball jackpot of $1.586 billion was hit. The lucky numbers were 4,8,18,27 and 34 with the Powerball 10. The prize money was split between three tickets in three different states, the winners were:

David Kaltschmidt and Maureen Smith - Florida

Originally from Long Island, New York but residing in Melbourne Beach, Florida, the couple took home $328 million. David lost 10 lbs from stress before the couple even collected their prize. David purchased an SUV and Maureen a gold Tesla but the couple decided to remain in their $300,000 home located in a prime real estate location by the sea, which included a dock for David’s 15 ft fishing boat. As the couple were already relatively well-off and enjoying their life in Florida, not a great deal changed in terms of their lifestyle with neighbours claiming, ‘they were nice, humble people before and they are exactly the same now’.

John and Lisa Robinson - Tennessee

The Robinsons initially claimed they would be staying in the modest home in Munford, John stated “we’re just like y’all. These big fancy houses are nice, but you gotta clean ‘em”. However, six months later, the Robinson family was living in a $6.2 million, 10-bedroom mansion on 320 acres (129 hectares) of land including a private lake. You can’t really blame them after winning $328 million, they would still have had plenty left over to live out the rest of their days. They were living a modest, small-town, middle-class life prior to their win, unlike David and Maureen who were already living it up in Florida.

Marvin and Mae Acosta – California

This couple from Chino Hills was in no rush no go on a spending spree as they took 6 months to claim their prize, reportedly ‘laying low on purpose’. According to California Lottery Director Hugo Lopez, the couple had read their ‘Winner’s Handbook’ and assembled a team of legal and financial advisors, this was later confirmed by the couple who said that would comit ‘nearly all of this new resource to a Trust and to charities that are important (to them)’. This win was also great news for Balbir Atwal, owner of the 7-Eleven which sold the ticket, who received a mega bonus of $1 million for selling the ticket.

5) $1.537 billion - Mega Millions

On the 23rd of October 2018, a courteous action led to someone in Simpsonville, South Carolina winning a $1.537 jackpot all to themselves. The anonymous winner purchased their ticket at KC Mart No.7, allowing another customer to purchase a ticket before him/her by letting the other customer go in front of them in the queue. The single-ticket winning numbers were 5,28,62,65 and 70 with the Mega Ball 5. The winner took home a lump sum of $877.8 million, fair to say, not a bad return on a $2 investment.

How to Bet on Powerball from the UK

You can bet on Powerball from the UK with Lottoland. Just create an account, pick your numbers and wish for the best. All from the comfort of your own home!

PowerPlay is an additional feature which enables you to win more money on lower-tier prizes. If you win a prize on Tier 2 with the PowerPlay option, your winnings are doubled! Any other non-jackpot prizes will be doubled either x2, x3 or x5 depending on the PowerPlay ball that is drawn. If the jackpot is below $150 million, an additional x10 PowerPlay ball is added. 

 Here's a snapshot of everything you need to know for betting on the Powerball: 

Powerball
Draw times	Min. Jackpot	Record Jackpot	System	Prize Odds	Jackpot odds
Tues, Thurs & Sun (4 am GMT)	$20 million	$2.040 billion	5 main numbers + 1 Powerball	1 in 24	1 in 292,201,338

How to Bet on Mega Millions from the UK

Lottoland offers lotto betting on Mega Millions from the UK.

The MegaPlier option adds extra excitement, allowing you to multiply your winnings. Selecting this option means you could end up winning as much as 5 times your winnings (excluding the jackpot - that would be a little too much!) A number (two, three, four, or five) is drawn in addition to the regular MegaMillions numbers, and all prizes from levels 2 to 9 are multiplied by the number which is drawn. Do not forget to activate the MegaPlier on your ticket for just an additional one pound!

Here's a brief summary of everything you need to know about the MegaMillions:

Mega Millions
Draw times	Min. Jackpot	Record Jackpot	System	Prize Odds	Jackpot odds
Wed & Sat (4 am GMT)	$20 million	$1.602 billion	5 main numbers + 1 Megaball	1 in 24	1 in 302,575.350

How Much Does it Cost to Bet from the UK?

As we have already seen, Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots can reach enormous heights. For this reason, the price per line bet is not fixed as it is for other international lotteries like EuroJackpot at Lottoland. The reason for this is that the upper limit of top jackpots in European multi-state lotteries is limited. With the big American lotteries, like Powerball and Mega Millions, there is no limit - which is why those two are battling it out for the world record jackpot! With such mega-jackpots on offer, our insurance costs increase, which is why we also need to increase the price for a line bet when the jackpots become gargantuan.

I Won a Prize – What Now?

All of our UK customers are automatically verified, for large sums such as Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots, an additional document scan may potentially be requested to ensure the money goes to the right person. For smaller prizes, they will be automatically credited and your money will arrive in your bank account within a few business days. Of course, if you're lucky enough to hit the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot, we'll contact you by phone to share the good news!

Lottoland guarantees a payout of all winnings with its unique insurance model, even the highest Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots. However, Lottoland replicates the pay-out structure of the official draws in the US and for this reason, the total prize is reduced by 38% to make allowances for the tax that the official winners in Tiers 1 to 3 would have to pay. Payment can be received as installments over 30 years or as a lump sum paid out at 60% of the total value of the annuity amount.

Updated: 10th April 2024