The month of August 2007 was unusual in that there were two very large US lottery jackpots at the same time. Both the Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries broke the $300 million mark. In the history of the Mega Millions, there has only been 5 jackpots over $300 million. For the Powerball lottery, there has only been 4 jackpots that exceeded $300 million. Therefore it was very unusual for two to occur in the same month.
On August 25, 2007, the sum of the two jackpots was $564.3 million and established a new record. The Powerball jackpot was $314.3 million for the August 25 draw and the Mega Millions jackpot was $250 million for the August 28 draw. The previous record sum was $540 million on February 18, 2006 when the Powerball jackpot was $365 million and the Mega Millions jackpot was $175 million.
The Powerball jackpot was won on August 25, 2007, when it reached $314.3 million. It took 16 rolls to reach that level after starting at the $15 million level on June 30. It was the fourth-largest jackpot in the 22-year history of the multistate Powerball game. The first Powerball jackpot over $300 million was close to that value at $314.9 million and was also reached after 16 rolls. It was won on Christmas Day in 2002 and still holds the record for the largest US jackpot won by a single person.
The Mega Millions jackpot was finally won on August 31, 2007 after reaching the $330 million mark. It took 15 rolls to reach that level after starting at $12 million on July 10. The largest ever Mega Millions jackpot was also reached in 15 rolls. It was $390 million and was won on March 6, 2007.
List of largest Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots
* Mega Millions was previously called The Big Game
| Date |
Jackpot |
Cash Value |
Lottery |
| Mar 6, 2007 |
390 |
233 |
Mega Millions |
| Feb 18, 2006 |
365 |
177.3 |
Powerball |
| May 9, 2000 |
363 |
180 |
The Big Game* |
| Apr 16, 2002 |
331 |
176.7 |
The Big Game* |
| Aug 31, 2007 |
330 |
194 |
Mega Millions |
| Nov 15, 2005 |
315 |
184.6 |
Mega Millions |
| Dec 25, 2002 |
314.9 |
170.5 |
Powerball |
| Aug 25, 2007 |
314.3 |
146 |
Powerball |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|