As you already know, lottery fever is back in America as the Mega Millions jackpot goes up once again, this time hitting the BILLION dollar mark. As the number goes up to a staggering figure, we noticed that a sign that usually keeps you updated on the latest jackpot amounts, wasn't quite ready for the astronomical figure.

We Received Some Interesting Numbers From The Texas Lottery About The Last Drawing.

Before we look at this big one, we were receiving emails from the Texas Lottery about hourly figures that came in about how crazy folks were going over the lottery. On the July 26th drawing date, Cumulative Texas Mega Millions draw sales totaled $28,686,094 according to updates we received.

• In the 9:00 – 9:45 p.m. hour, the last 45 minutes before sales closed for the drawing, included $897,116 in Mega Millions draw sales.
• Hourly Mega Millions sales per minute in Texas are $19,936.

Has Anyone From Texas Ever Won The Mega Millions Jackpot?

Yup! Texas has had 13 Mega Millions jackpot prize winners since it joined the game in 2003. Its most recent jackpot winner came in September 2019 when a Leander resident won an estimated annuitized $227 million, the largest prize ever paid out to a single Texas Lottery player.

How Will You Take Your Billion? Annually Or Now?

Of course with a Billion Bucks on the line, the real question is, take the WHOLE AMOUNT OVER TIME or PAY ME MOST OF IT NOW? The $1.02 billion prize is for winners who choose the annuity option, paid annually over 30 years. Most winners opt for the cash option, which for the next drawing Friday night is an estimated $602.5 million.

The choice is yours...and while you might be ready for the big payday, unfortunately for the Texas Lottery billboard that over looks the South Loop in Tyler, it wasn't ready for the astronomical jackpot as it only is able to show the jackpot up to $999 Million...