Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $550 MILLION for Tuesday's drawing

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Mega Millions jackpot sits at $550 MILLION DOLLARS for this Tuesday's drawing on December 17th.

In a release on the Mega Millions website Saturday, officials say no single ticket matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball in the drawing on Friday night, December 13th.

As a result, the current estimated jackpot for the Dec. 17 drawing is $550 million.

Mega Millions officials say this will be the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot in history and the fourth-largest jackpot ever experienced in the United States.

The current record jackpot is $656 million, shared by players in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland on March 30, 2012.

Nine more $1 million winners came out of Friday’s drawing, bringing the total to 39 since the new game was launched in October.

The $1 million second-tier prize is a new feature of the game – substantially larger than the previous second prize of $250,000.

The latest $1 million winning tickets, which matched the first five numbers (19, 24, 26, 27 and 70) but not the Mega Ball number (12), were sold in Colorado, Connecticut and New Jersey, plus two each in Florida, Michigan and New York.

In less than two months, players in 16 different states have won at the $1 million level.

Two lucky players added the Megaplier to their ticket for an extra $1 and were rewarded with super-sized prizes of $5 million and $3 million.