Louisiana Lottery News: Mega Millions Confirms $8 Million Payout

The Louisiana Lottery and its myriad of draw and scratch games often promise the chance at a life-changing experience. Over the past few weeks games such as Powerball, Mega Millions, Lotto, Easy 5, and a host of scratch-off games have probably changed some lives.

Lottery players who take a chance on games such as Lotto, Easy 5, and Mega Millions have claimed some big money winners in towns such as Albany, Slidell, and Sugar Land to the tune of $875,00, $110,000, and $8,000,000. And no, that last number is not a typo.

The $8 million win actually happened less than a month ago on September 10th in the Mega Millions game.  Funny that game, Mega Millions, should come up because there was a big drawing Friday night in that game.

Here's how the drawing unfolded just before 10 on Friday, October 4, 2024.

The game's top prize for the Friday night drawing was an estimated $108 million. There were no tickets sold for the game that matched the numbers needed to claim that prize. There were also no tickets sold across the Mega Millions footprint that matched the five white balls for the Match 5 Million prize either.

The Texas Lottery reported that one ticket sold in Texas for Friday's Mega Millions draw did earn a prize of $10,000. Based on figures from our Texas Lottery sources over 42,000 tickets sold in Texas for last night's Mega Millions game earned a prize of at least $2.

The Louisiana Lottery reported even fewer winners than our neighbors in Texas. The largest prize in Friday's Mega Millions drawing was a ticket that matched four of the white balls for a prize of $1,000. Truth be told, Mega Millions has never been as popular in Louisiana as Powerball. So, if you have fewer players you'll probably have fewer winners, right?

Mega Millions reported the following numbers were drawn for Friday's game.

21   39   42   43   45   Mega Ball 03   Megaplier x3

Use those numbers for reference but in order to make your win official you do need to verify those numbers at either the Official Louisiana Lottery Website or the Official Mega Millions Website. Those sites are the last word in lottery winning where this game is concerned. Also, should you be fortunate enough to win a prize, you can get instructions on how to claim that prize.

$800 Million Lottery Win Makes Texas Mega Millions History

Speaking of claiming prizes, there was a history-making claim made just the other day concerning a huge Texas win in the Mega Millions game. The Sol Living Trust of Sugar Land Texas claimed its prize from the September 10th drawing of the Mega Millions game. 

The Sol Living Trust held a ticket that matched all the numbers needed to claim the Mega Millions jackpot of $800 million for the annuitized top prize. The Trust, however, opted for the lump sum or cash payout for their winnings. The amount delivered from Mega Millions was $409,297,624 before taxes – the largest prize ever paid out to a single Texas Lottery player.

How Much Is The Powerball Tonight?

Louisiana Lottery players will have three games that can change their lives tonight. The multi-state lottery Powerball will offer a top prize of $295 million. That's the annuity, the lump sum jackpot would be $147.9 million. The drawing for tonight, October 5, 2024, will take place at 9:59 Louisiana time.  Watch the drawing as it happens here. 

The other games with nice prizes, maybe "life-changing" is overkill would be the Lotto game and the Easy 5 game. Both of those games have had recent winners so the prize amounts are near the starting levels For Lotto the jackpot is $525,000 because of last Saturday's $875,000 winner. And the Easy 5 jackpot is at its starting amount of $50,000 because of a jackpot winner on Wednesday. 

Winning is fun when you play the lottery. That being said the reality is that most lottery tickets purchased do not return any money to the purchaser. It is possible to lose money playing lottery games. So, play responsibly. If you feel your desire to gamble has gotten out of control help is available. It's free to call 1-800-GAMBLER to get assistance and referrals to counseling and programs that can really make a difference. Good Luck.