The Mega Millions jackpot is approaching $1 billion for the Christmas Eve drawing

Christmas may come early this year for anyone who plays Tuesday’s $970 million Mega Millions jackpot.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302 million, according to lottery organizers, and the last jackpot was won in Texas on September 10 for $810 million.

Tuesday’s drawing is at 8 pm Pacific time.

If there is a winner or winners on Tuesday, they will claim a share of the seventh largest prize in Mega Millions history. Only three tickets won the Mega Millions jackpot this year, the fewest since the multi-state game was created in 2002.

There have been 13 December jackpot winners in the game’s history, but only one winning ticket was drawn on Christmas Eve – in 2002. That winning ticket was sold in New York for a $68 million prize that went unclaimed, according to the lottery. editors.

While some people swear by their lucky numbers, there is little consensus or reason to buy a winning ticket.

That said, there are places that have sold more winning tickets than others. The California Lottery lists “Lucky Shop” locations on its website.

Bluebird Liquor in Hawthorne has a long, storied history of selling winning tickets to SoCal residents. Since 2021, the liquor store has sold four winning Powerball tickets and four Mega Millions tickets, according to data from the California Lottery.

Joe’s Service Center in Altadena sold the winning ticket for the $2-billion Powerball prize in November 2022.

Las Palmitas Mini Market in the city of Los Angeles sold the winning ticket that won the prize of $ 1.08-billion in June 2023.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands.

In April, the price of a Mega Millions ticket will increase to $5, but the organizers of the game say they will increase the chances of winning, although the details are not yet available.