Mega Millions: One ticket in Illinois wins the second-largest Mega Millions
The winning ticket was purchased at a Speedway gas station in Des Plaines, roughly a 20-mile drive northwest of downtown Chicago, the Illinois Lottery said Saturday.
“We have not heard from the winner yet. We don’t know whether … they even know that they won a prize. So I encourage everybody to check your ticket,” Illinois Lottery Director Harold Mays told reporters Saturday morning in Chicago.
If the holder chooses a lump-sum cash option, the ticket will yield a one-time payment of about $780 million. Otherwise, the nearly $1.34 billion prize will be spread over an initial payment and 29 annual payments.
Friday night’s winning numbers were 13, 36, 45, 57, 67 and a Mega Ball of 14.
The Speedway convenience store in Des Plaines will receive $500,000 for selling the winning ticket, Mays said.
The jackpot winner has a year from the drawing to claim the prize, Mays said.
The largest jackpot of any US lottery game was $1.586 billion — a Powerball prize from January 13, 2016, shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.
Other tickets win big prizes
Some other ticket holders also won some sizable prizes Friday.
Twenty-six tickets won a secondary prize of at least $1 million because they matched the first five numbers.
Six of the 26 tickets won $2 million because the buyers matched not only the first five numbers, but also paid an additional $1 to activate the game’s “multiplier,” which elevates non-jackpot prizes.
First MegaMillions jackpot win since April 15
The Mega Millions website on Friday night became inaccessible for several minutes after the drawing. The lottery’s jackpots start at $20 million and grow based on game sales and interest rates, according to its website.
The next drawing will be Tuesday at 11 p.m. ET, at the $20 million starting point.
Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands, where drawings are on…
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