Lottery fever strikes as combined Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots hit $1.9 billion

• The Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots have hit a combined $1.9 billion.
• No tickets have matched all six numbers on either lottery in the most recent drawings.

The Powerball and Mega Millions Powerball jackpots are now at a combined value of almost $2 billion after no tickets matched all six numbers in the most drawings.

Powerball's prize has now hit $800 million, its sixth-largest prize draw ever, while the Mega Millions jackpot is up to $1.1 billion.

In cash terms, the lotteries have $384.8 million and $525.8 million up for grabs, respectively.

Lottery winners can either take the cash value of the prize or opt for annual payments over time, but winnings are treated as regular income and subject to state and federal income taxes.

This is "quickly climbing the rankings as one of the game's largest" and is now at its sixth-largest prize draw in history, Powerball said in a statement released on Sunday.

The next Powerball draw will take place on Monday night, and the odds of winning the game's jackpot are 1 in 292.9 million.

Mega Millions will draw numbers again on Tuesday with odds at 1 in 302.6 million.

"Lottery fever continues to spread throughout the country," Gretchen Corbin, Georgia Lottery president, said in a Mega Millions statement.

"We appreciate our players and dedicated retailers, and we encourage everyone to play responsibly," she said.

The largest lottery jackpot ever won was a prize of $2.04 billion in November 2022.

But getting rich overnight does not always change lives for the better — some winners have ended up in debt or even been sent to prison.

The lucky winner should think of it as preparing for a marathon and learn to say no to friends and family, a lottery advisor previously told Business Insider.