Winning tickets for Mega Millions jackpot sold in San Jose, California and Atlanta, Georgia

WHO needs Santa Claus when you hold one of two winning tickets announced in the $636 million Mega Millions lottery in the US?

The life-changing stubs for the second richest pot in American lottery history were sold in San Jose, Califoia at a gift shop and at a newsstand in Atlanta, Georgia, CBS news reported, quoting lottery officials after the Tuesday night draw.

The jackpot will be split. The names of the winners were not immediately announced.

Winners in this sweepstake can opt between a one time lump sum payment or one smaller payment followed by others over the course of 29 years.

Had there been a single winner in Tuesday's draw the one time cash option was estimated at $341 million - before taxes.

The jackpot reached its dizzying sum after frantic Americans in 43 participating states, Washington DC and the US Virgin Islands spent days snapping up $1 tickets.

Tuesday's combination of six winning numbers was: 8, 14, 17, 20, 39 and 7, the latter being known as the Mega Ball.

Not the winner... A customer buys a Mega Millions lottery ticket at Lichines Liquor & Deli in Land Park, Califoia.

The record jackpot was $656 million in March 2012. It was split among ticket holders in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.

But this draw was the first since a rule change in October designed to make it harder to win and thus fatten the jackpot.

Previously, players picked five numbers from one to 56 plus a number from one to 46.

Under the new rules, players pick five numbers from one to 75 plus a number from one to 15 - shifting the odds of winning from one in 176 million to one in 259 million.

By comparison, the odds of being struck by lightning in the United States in one's lifetime is one in 10,000, according to the National Weather Service.

Mega Millions' lead director Paula Otto said $US336 million in tickets were sold for Tuesday's drawing - they had projected $319 million.

"Sales were a little better than we'd anticipated," Ms Otto said. "It was a fun run, it was our first holiday run for either of the big jackpot games."

She said because of the higher sales, the jackpot may be more around $645 million. The final jackpot will be available in a few hours, she said.

The jackpot started its ascent on October 4. Twenty-two draws came and went without a winner, Ms Otto said. She also said $US1 billion worth of tickets were sold during the run, eaing the places that offer the Mega Millions lottery - 43 states, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands - a total of $300 million.