The second largest jackpot in Mega Millions lottery history of $1.35 billion dollars will go to a person who purchased the winning ticket from the Maine State Lottery.
The winning numbers drawn on Friday the 13th were: “30, 43, 45, 46, 61 and gold Mega Ball 14,” according to an article written by The Associated Press on NPR.org. The winner has not come forward to claim the jackpot yet, but this person beat the odds in a big way. Each ticket had a 1 in 302.6 million chance to win. This is the fourth time in Mega Millions history that the jackpot has exceeded one billion dollars. This is the first time the Maine State Lottery claims the jackpot victory. Per the AP article, this is the seventh time there has been a Mega Millions jackpot winner on Friday the 13th.
But there was more than just one grand prize winner from Friday night’s drawing. The AP website post reports that according to Mega Millions officials, there were more than 7 million winning tickets across all nine lottery tiers. “Beyond Maine’s jackpot, 14 tickets matched five white balls to claim the second-tier prize of $1 million. Four were sold in New York, two in California and one each in Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas.”
So, how does the grand prize winner claim over one billion dollars. Well, if this person wants the entire grand prize jackpot, they will accept the money in an annuity which will pay them annually in 29 installments. However, per the AP article, most grand prize jackpot winners prefer to take the reduced jackpot total, which is the quicker option. If Friday night’s winner chooses this option, they will receive the reduced amount of $724.6 million dollars. Not bad at all! Uncle Sam will take a hunk of that right off the top, and the winner will have to claim the income and pay taxes on it in April too.
Congratulations to the winner! We’re all envious.
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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.