After almost the entire summer went by without a win, the Mega Millions $800 million jackpot was finally won on Tuesday evening with a single ticket.

The $800 million jackpot, which included a cash payout of $401.8 million, had been in circulation since it was last won in early June, when an Illinois lottery player won $552 million through the state’s online lottery app.

Tuesday night’s $800 million jackpot was the seventh-largest in gambling history, just behind six other Mega Millions pots that each reached over $1 billion.

• Read more: Mega Millions jackpot is almost $750 million after no win in summer 2024

The only jackpot winning ticket was sold in Texas. It had all five numbers and the Mega Ball, namely 1, 2, 16, 24, 66 and Mega Ball: 6.

In addition, four other $1 million prizes were won on tickets that matched the first five numbers drawn. These tickets were purchased in California, Florida, New York and Washington.

Mega Millions tickets cost $2 each, and drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. The game can be played in 45 states, as well as Washington, DC, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Why have the jackpots become so high?

The Massachusetts State Lottery explained to MassLive last year why lottery jackpots have gotten so high in recent years.

The “number matrix,” the field of numbers that lottery players select on their tickets for each game, was adjusted for Powerball and Mega Millions in 2015 and 2017, respectively, said Christian Teja, a spokesman for the lottery. As a result, the chances of winning a jackpot have become “higher” with each game.

Mega Millions requires players to select their first five numbers on the ticket from one to 70 and their Mega Ball number from one to 25 in the matrix. This was introduced in October 2017, when the matrix previously required players to select the first five numbers from one to 75 and the Mega Ball number from one to 25.

Lottery and Multi-State Lottery Association records show that since then, jackpots have increased in number and players have taken longer to win them, bringing in more revenue for the lottery and increasing player interest in higher jackpots.

Almost all of the biggest lottery jackpots in history were won after these changes. Here is the list of the 10 biggest Mega Millions jackpots in history:

• $1.602 billion in prize money won on August 8, 2023 in Florida
• $1.537 billion in prize money won on October 23, 2018 in South Carolina
• $1.348 billion in prize money won on January 13, 2023 in Maine
• $1.337 billion in prize money won on July 29, 2022 in Illinois
• $1.128 billion in prize money won on March 26, 2024 in New Jersey
• $1.050 billion in prize money won on January 22, 2021 in Michigan
• 800 million dollars in prize money won on September 10, 2024 in Texas
• $656 million in prize money on March 30, 2012 with three tickets sold in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland
• $648 million in prize money won on December 17, 2013 with two tickets sold in California and Georgia
• $552 million in prize money won on June 4, 2024 in Illinois