The Mega Millions jackpot leading into Tuesday's night draw represented the second largest in U.S. history at $636 million. The winning tickets were sold in California and Georgia, The Associated Press reported.
"We've never had a jackpot this high the week before Christmas. You like like to see winners and you like to see big jackpots. I leave it in the hands of the bouncing balls," said Virginia's lottery director Paula Otto.
The winning numbers drawn were 8, 14, 17, 20 and 39 with the Mega Ball number 7, according to news reports.
"The winners can choose to be paid over time or in a cash lump sum... Based on the $636 million figure, the winners would receive $318 million each over time or $170 million each in cash," according to FoxNews.com.
"Sales were a little better than we'd anticipated. It was a fun run, it was our first holiday run for either of the big jackpot games," added Otto.
The jackpot resets to $15 million for the next drawing, which is this Friday night.
"Mega Millions changed its rules in October to help increase the jackpots by lowering the odds of winning the top prize. That means the chances of winning the jackpot are now about 1 in 259 million. It used to be about 1 in 176 million, nearly the same odds of winning a Powerball jackpot," FoxNews.com reported.
Mega Millions tickets are sold in 43 states, as well as the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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