S.C. Store That Sold Winning Lottery Ticket Gets $ 50K Payout

(SIMPSONVILLE, S.C.) – A flimsy little piece of paper that is now worth $ 1.537 trillion, so lottery officials could hardly be blamed Wednesday if their anxiety tinged their excitement.

KC Mart in Simpsonville, South Carolina, matched all six numbers to win the Mega Millions jackpot.

And unless the winner chooses to come forward, the world may never know who won.

"Our message to the $ 1.5 BILLION #Mega Millions jackpot winner: Sign the back of the ticket, place the ticket in a safe location, speak with a trusted advisor and call the LOTTERY at 1-866-736-9819. Take a deep breath and enjoy the moment! "South Carolina Education Lottery tweeted.

The prize is extraordinary by any measure, but particularly so for South Carolina, where it would be enough for an exceedingly generous winner to get around $ 307 on each of the five million people. It's about as much as 20 percent of the $ 8 billion that state lawmakers have to spend each year.

An earlier Mega Millions estimate of $ 1.6 trillion would have been a world record for lotteries, but $ 1.586 trillion powerball jackpot prize won by California, Florida and Tennessee in January of 2016.

"The final total was less than the $ 1.6 billion estimate," confirmed Carol Gentry, spokesperson for the Maryland Lottery, which leads to a consortium of state lotteries participating in the Mega Millions jackpot.

"Estimates are based on historical patterns," she explained Wednesday morning in an interview with The Associated Press. "The jackpot's been rolling since it was hit in July in California, but there are few precedents for a jackpot of this size. Typically, about 70 percent of sales occur on the drawing day, so forecasting can be difficult. That's why we always use the term estimate. "

The ticket is worth about $ 877.8 million in a lump-sum cash payment, which is more than just a payment.

South Carolina is one of eight states – along with Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and Texas – where winners can remain anonymous. The winner also has 180 days to claim the prize.

"South Carolina Education Lottery Director William Hogan Brown told ABC's" Good Morning America. "

South Carolina's previous record-holder – someone who bought a $ 400 million Powerball ticket in the Columbia area in 2013 – never wanted to be identified.

Holli Armstrong, a spokeswoman, said the retailer will get a $ 50,000 payout. TV trucks and gawkers flooded the parking lot ahead of a news conference at the KC Mart and Exxon station, which is at the bend of a road where Greenville's suburban sprawl gives way to farm fields.

The biggest Mega Millions jackpot winner is a $ 656 million Gentry said, "So it's a record for Mega Millions and it came close to breaking the world record of all the jackpots."

The winning numbers were 5, 28, 62, 65, 70 and Mega Ball 5. The lucky player overcame miserable odds: The chance of matching all six numbers and winning the top prize is 1 in 302.5 million.

Mega Millions is played in 44 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Lottery officials and financial managers encourage winners to take a look at a strategy for investing in their millions of dollars, and to prepare for security concerns befitting somebody who becomes immensely wealthy.

The Mega Millions jackpot grew so large because no player had matched all six numbers and won the top prize since July 24, when 11 co-workers from California won a $ 543 million prize.

Although Tuesday's jackpot was extraordinarily wide, it's no fluke. It reflects a trend towards ever-growing lotteries that are more likely to change in the game than they would hope for bigger jackpots.

Officials with the Powerball game were the first to make the move in October 2015 when changing the odds of winning the jackpot from 1 in 175 million to 1 in 292.2 million. Mega Millions followed in October 2017, resulting in the odds of worsening from 1 in 259 million to 1 in 302.5 million.

While the game has been on the Mega Millions game, Powerball also has been soaring. The estimated prize for Powerball's annuity option is $ 620 million, with a cash prize of $ 354.3 million.

Some KC Mart customers Wednesday were hoping some Mega Millions luck would rub off as they played the Powerball.

"Sell me another lucky one. Now I know y'all have it! "Chase Hatcher said, trading smiles across the counter with Jee and Twinkle Patel.

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Contributors include Associated Press Jack Jones Writers in Columbia and Michael Warren in Atlanta.