This Mass. lottery jackpot hit $17M before Wednesday drawing — largest prize in 40 years

The jackpot prize for “Megabucks,” a Massachusetts lottery game introduced more than 40 years ago, has reached its highest level in exactly four decades.

The prize is worth an estimated $17 million with a cash option of $11.44 million ahead of the Wednesday night drawing, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery.

The “Megabucks” jackpot has not been hit since April 21, 2025, when a $1.97 million jackpot was won on a ticket sold in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston.

This is the fourth largest prize in game history, after it was introduced in 1982 — and the largest jackpot in the game since 1986.

The drawing for the $17 million jackpot will be held at 9 p.m. on Wednesday. Tickets cost $2 each and can be purchased at Massachusetts State Lottery retailers until 9 p.m. on Wednesday. “Megabucks” drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 9 p.m.

The largest prize won in “Megabucks” history is $21.7 million, which was split among eight winning tickets in the game’s drawing on Oct. 16, 1985. This was the third largest jackpot in U.S. history at the time.

The largest prize won on a single ticket in “Megabucks” history was worth $16.35 million, won on the Sept. 10, 2022 drawing on a ticket sold in Ware. At the time, the game was called “Megabucks Doubler.”

However, the game was redesigned in 2023 with a new name, the addition of a third weekly drawing and “to bring more value to players, including better odds of winning, higher average jackpots (and) bigger payouts for all non-jackpot prizes,” according to the Lottery.

Massachusetts State Lottery

Read the original article on MassLive. Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here.