Mega Millions Earns $ 1.537 Billion Jackpot: Ticket Wins, South Carolina

A winning ticket was sold for the Mega Millions jackpot record of what turned out to be just under $ 1.6 billion. The winning ticket was purchased in South Carolina.

The six winning numbers were drawn Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning, lottery officials said in a statement that the jackpot was worth $ 1.537 billion, more than $ 50 million less than the previously estimated jackpot of $ 1.6 billion.

Holli Armstrong, spokesman for the Lottery for Education in South Carolina, told CBS News that officials are not yet publishing the address of the store that sold the winner – or even the city or the count. She cited "security procedures".

Armstrong said it was the first Mega Millions state jackpot. His previous lottery record was a $ 399 million jackpot.

A South Carolina lottery official told CBS News that the winning ticket holder (s) had 180 days to claim the prize and could remain anonymous. The retailer where the ticket was sold gets a $ 50,000 discount once the price is claimed.

The tickets had to match the five white balls on Tuesday night as well as the yellow Mega Ball to win the jackpot.

In addition to the grand prize winner, the Mega Millions website reports that 36 tickets matched the five white balls to claim $ 1 million each. They were purchased in 17 states and in the District of Columbia. The Texas and one Florida winners included the optional Megaplier option. These two tickets are worth $ 3 million each.

Tuesday's winning numbers

• 5, 28, 62, 65, 70 and Mega Ball 5
• Megaplier 3x

The cash value of the jackpot was $ 878 million, a preferred option for most winners. Otherwise, the jackpot is distributed over 29 years.

If no one had matched Tuesday's numbers, officials said the next draw would have focused on a jackpot valued at $ 2 billion.

It will take place Friday night but for a jackpot estimated at 40 million dollars.

The Mega Millions jackpot has been on the rise since July, when a group of office workers in California had won $ 543 million.

Mega Millions offers more than 302 million possible number combinations. Lottery officials expected to sell 75% by Tuesday, while The Mega Millions host, John Crow announced the winning numbers.

"One million dollars is life changing, but a billion dollars is amazing," Crow told CBS News. "So, this enthusiasm, this enthusiasm that is currently generating is what's great with this jackpot."

Mega Millions tickets cost $ 2 and are sold in 44 states in Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands.

Officials say Mega Millions' previous record jackpot was $ 656 million, shared between winners from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland. The draw took place on March 30, 2012.

The world record jackpot remains a $ 1.586 billion Powerball prize, which was awarded in January 2016 three tickets, California, Florida, Tennessee. A previous record holder was another Powerball jackpot, worth $ 758.7 million, won by a single ticket holder from Massachusetts in August 2017.

Powerball will hold its draw Wednesday night for a jackpot estimated at $ 620 million, a monetary value of $ 354.3 million.

It will likely take several days or even weeks before a winner will win the prize, the Associated Press says, adding that "lottery managers and financial managers encourage people to take the time to" 39, develop a strategy to invest their hundreds of millions of dollars. " dollars, and the winners have to deal with security problems worthy of someone who is suddenly extremely rich. Depending on the state, winners have between 180 days and a year to claim their prize. "

Winners can remain anonymous in seven states in addition to South Carolina, but in the rest, the names of the winners are made public.

The size of Tuesday's jackpot is part of the growing trend towards jackpots, which came when Mega Millions and Powerball changed their rules and left more of a chance to look for better sales. ; AP.

Chances of winning

The odds of winning a jackpot remain catastrophic at 1 on 302.5 million for Mega Millions and 1 on 292.2 million for Powerball.

Who buys lotto tickets?

About two-thirds of Americans play. Last year, they spent $ 72.97 billion in traditional lottery tickets, according to Gallup.

On average, this represents $ 206.69 per person. "Our obsession with lotteries and gambling is this unicorn feeling like," Maybe it will be me, "said Jill Schlesinger, Business Analyst for CBS News.

She points out that some people do not necessarily play to win.

"They just want to take a moment of their day to think about how to dream big," Schlesinger said.

The average American spends about $ 223 a year on lottery tickets, according to a LENDedu survey. The people of Massachusetts have the greatest taste for playing odds, spending close to $ 763 a year in lottery tickets, according to the study. The North Dakota are at the opposite end of the spectrum, spending about $ 44 a year on the lottery, the lowest average among residents of all 50 states.