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Alex Horton
Generalist journalist covering national and last-minute news
Someone, somewhere in South Carolina, will look at his bank balance today and think: Well, this it quickly took on unbelievable proportions.
Lottery officials announced Wednesday morning that a single ticket purchased in South Carolina had won the record $ 1.6 billion jackpot, the Mega Millions.
No additional details were immediately available.
The winning numbers were 5-28-62-65-70, with a Mega Ball number of 5, and the lottery officials estimated that 75% of all the number combinations had been purchased at the time of the draw. Tuesday evening.
According to Mega Millions officials, the estimated cash option for the biggest grand prize in American lottery history – if the winner chooses to receive a single lump sum payment instead of annual payments over 30 years – s 39 raises $ 913 million.
[You’ve won the Mega Millions jackpot! Time to hide.]
Lottery fever raged across the country ahead of Tuesday's draw, with big-ticket hunters waiting for long lines to get tickets. Virginia Lottery officials said no less than 12,700 tickets were sold by the minute at the height of sales in that state.
Mega Million officials rely on huge jackpots to attract players who would normally avoid participation. Last October, these officials made two major changes: they doubled the price of $ 2 tickets – and modified the formula to make it easier to win smaller prizes but more difficult to win the jackpot.
Here is how Mega Millions worked: players chose five numbers from 1 to 75 and a mega from 1 to 15. The odds of winning the first prize were 1 in 258,890,850.
Since Mega Millions changed the formula, players now choose five numbers ranging from 1 to 70 and a mega number from 1 to 25. The odds of winning the jackpot are now 1 in 302,575,350.
In other words, reducing the number of balls for the first five numbers increases the chances of winning a smaller prize. But increasing the number of Mega Balls makes it more difficult to win the jackpot. (You always win the jackpot by matching the six winning numbers in a draw.)
Powerball made similar changes to its rules in 2015. This game itself currently has a monster jackpot, although a small gain over Mega Millions: Powerball shows a $ 620 million gain before the draw. Wednesday.
Mega Millions announced that Friday's price would be $ 40 million.
More reading:
He won the $ 314 million Powerball jackpot. It ruined his life.
He returned the orange juice to save money – and raised a winning ticket of $ 315 million
The winner of a $ 560 million Powerball jackpot can keep the money and its secret, according to the rules of the judge
Perspective: How the excesses of the 80s fed today's Mega Millions craze
She bought her first lottery ticket on her 18th birthday – and she is now ready for life
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