For the past decade the US Powerball and US MegaMillions have dominated headlines for their record-breaking lottery jackpots, making millionaires and multi-millionaires out of dozens of lucky winners.
This has been especially true in the last five years or so, after rules changes (such as doubling the opening jackpot amount from $20-Million to $40-Million) meant that the jackpot totals increased even more quickly.
Since 2016 both the US Powerball and the MegaMillions have had jackpot totals pass the Billion dollar mark. In fact, six of the top ten US lottery jackpots of all time have been won in only the last five years.
Currently the top ten jackpots are shared somewhat unevenly between the Powerball and the MegaMillions, with Powerball leading seven to three. It's a good record, but MegaMillions can still boast the largest individual win of all time.
The momentum stalled a bit in 2020, though. Temporary rules changes have meant that over the past year both the MegaMillions and Powerball have had a lower starting jackpot, closer to the $20-Million of years past.
The sad fact is that no jackpot from either game made it anywhere near the top ten in 2020. For those of you keeping score, MegaMillions came out slightly ahead in June 2020 with a jackpot high of $410-Million, compared with Powerball's close second of just under $400-Million back in January 2020.
That makes the current week's lottery jackpots all the more exciting!
Despite the slower start, this week sees yet another roll-over for both of these mammoths of the lottery world. At this time, the MegaMillions Jackpot is $850-Million and the Powerball Jackpot is $730-Million. Even if both get won this week, that would make the MegaMillions jackpot the 3rd largest ever, and the US Powerball jackpot would get the sixth spot.
So, it took longer to get there, but here we are. The top records may or may not be broken this week, but each jackpot is already guaranteed to be in the all-time top ten. Maybe it's a sign that 2021 is off to a strong start.
You know what would make it perfect, though? Winning the lottery. Good luck!
