The $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot winning ticket was sold in South Carolina on Tuesday night, while four Kansas players came up one number short and won thousands in the drawing.
The actual amount of the jackpot was a little under the estimated $1.6 billion, according to lottery officials.
According to a news release from the Kansas Lottery, one Kansas ticket in the Oct. 23 Mega Millions drawing won $30,000 by matching four of the first five numbers and the Megaball. The player purchased the Megaplier, tripling a $10,000 prize to $30,000.
Three other tickets in Kansas matched four of the first five numbers and the Megaball without the Megaplier to win $10,000 each.
Four Kansas tickets with Megaplier matched four of the first five numbers but not the Megaball to win $1,500 each, according to the Kansas Lottery.
A range of other prizes was awarded in the drawing.
The total number of Kansas winners was 93,450, and the total dollar amount won by Kansas players was $459,740, the Kansas Lottery stated.
According to the Kansas Lottery, the total ticket sales in Kansas were $4,579,551 for the Oct. 23 drawing, with an average of $6,405 per minute during peak sales from 6 to 7 p.m. Oct. 23.
When sales closed last night, the Mega Millions jackpot was $1.537 billion, just short of a world record, lottery officials stated. The cash option on the prize is $877.8 million. The world’s largest lottery jackpot remains the $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot won in January 2016.
“The final total was less than the $1.6 billion estimate because estimates are based on historical patterns of jackpot rolls, but there were few precedents for a jackpot this size,” Kansas Lottery Executive Director Terry Presta said in a news release. “Typically, about 70 percent of sales occur on the drawing day, so forecasting precise numbers in advance can be difficult.”
On Friday, the Mega Millions jackpot will return to $40 million with a cash option of $22.8 million.
But the Powerball jackpot remains high, at $620 million, for tonight’s drawing. The cash option is $354.3 million.