American lottery players competed Tuesday night for a Mega Millions top prize of $1.58 billion, one of the three biggest jackpots in U.S. lottery history.
The winning numbers were 13-19-20-32-33, with the Mega Ball being 14.
Going into Tuesday’s game, it had been more than three months and 31 drawings since the last Mega Millions jackpot, which was won April 18.
But it wasn’t clear Tuesday afternoon though whether the prize would be the second- or third-largest in American history.
A Powerball game last year set the record at $2.04 billion, but a 2016 Powerball jackpot reached a nearly identical $1.586 billion. The exact size of the jackpot sometimes changes in the hours before the drawing because it’s partially related to ticket sales.
If taken in a single massive payment, as most recent big lottery winners have chosen to do, Tuesday’s $1.58 billion prize would be worth $783.3 million. The larger, advertised amount is what the other option — a 29-year annuity — would be worth over its lifetime.
Federal taxes would quickly take almost 40% of that amount, with state taxes a possibility on top of that.
The $2 Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, along with the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The five states on the outside are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.
The odds of a winning Mega Millions ticket are 1 in 302.5 million.