National jackpots soar past $500M

After a long stretch of relatively paltry prizes, U.S. lottery players now have a choice of games that offer combined jackpots of more than $1 billion.

The jackpot for Mega Millions’ Tuesday drawing has climbed to $615 million, and the top prize in the Powerball game reached $550 million ahead of Wednesday’s drawing. It’s only the second time both jackpots have topped $500 million.

The projected Mega Millions grand prize is the eighth largest in U.S. history.