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Mega Millions approaches record territory with $654 million jackpot

Mega Millions approaches record territory with $654 million jackpot
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After nobody won the most recent Mega Millions drawing, the jackpot prize for Tuesday is expected to approach record territory.

No ticket sold for Friday’s drawing matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball, so the jackpot will reach an estimated $654 million ($372.6 million cash) on Tuesday.

The Mega Millions jackpot record is a $656 million prize on March 30, 2012.

The jackpot has been growing since July 24, when a California office pool of 11 people won a $543 million prize, according to a Mega Millions statement.

That was the largest prize ever won on a single ticket.

“It’s so exciting for our players, and all of us, to see the Mega Millions jackpot getting so close to an all-time record level,” Lead Director of the Mega Millions Consortium and Director of Maryland Lottery and Gaming Gordon Medenica said. “With a little luck, we may still break that record by Tuesday”

The Powerball jackpot Saturday night was an estimated $314 million, a sizable sum in its own right.

“Jackpot fever is definitely sweeping the country,” Medenica said.