Mega Millions, Powerball jackpots both over $400M

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Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Powerball, Mega Millions jackpots both over $400M
TJ Holmes has more on the growing jackpots on "Good Morning America."

NEW YORK -- The Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots continue to grow after no one has won the grand prizes in several weeks. Now, both of the games are boasting top prizes of more than $400 million each.

This marks the third time that both lottery jackpots have totaled more than $400 million at the same time.

The Mega Millions jackpot for Tuesday night's drawing is $432 million, while the Powerball jackpot for Wednesday's drawing is $410 million.

"Good Morning America's" TJ Holmes explained why Americans had not seen massive jackpots during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that the jackpots have been smaller because not as many people are going out to buy tickets.

"You have to buy the tickets to get the jackpots up, but you have to get the jackpots up to get people to buy more tickets," he said.

The odds of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number is 1 in about 293 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. The overall chance of winning any prize is 1 in 24.87.

The Powerball game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Mega Millions tickets are sold in 44 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.