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The winner of a massive Powerball jackpot in Australia nearly missed his chance for the prize after almost forgetting to buy a ticket. That’s the case of a Bribie Island man, who scored the mind-blowing AU$60 million ($37.7 million) Powerball prize on Thursday night. [Read more…] about Single Ticket Wins Massive AU$60M Powerball Jackpot
A single ticket matched last night’s Mega Millions drawing to claim the ninth-richest jackpot in the history of the United States.
The $1.269 billion annuitized jackpot marks the fifth-richest Mega Millions prize ever won. The Mega Millions Consortium, which operates the interstate lottery game on behalf of its 45 member participating states, plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, reports that the lucky play was sold in California.
The ticket that matched the Friday night numbers 3, 7, 37, 49, and 55, plus the gold Mega Ball 6, was sold in Cottonwood at the Circle K Sunshine Food and Gas convenience store along Rhonda Rd. Cottonwood, a former stagecoach town roughly 125 air miles north of Sacramento, is located in Northern California’s Shasta County.
“Congratulations to our $1.269 billion jackpot winner from California. What an amazing present this holiday season,” said Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium.
“At an incredibly special time of year, this is both an incredibly special moment for our winner and all the great organizations and causes that benefit from lottery ticket sales around the country,” Johnston continued. “Thank you to everyone who plays. Because of you, we have winners all around the country taking home cash prizes both big and small, and we have educational causes, parks, and many other great organizations benefiting as well.”
The winner has one year to come forward. California does not allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.
The lucky winner will have the option of choosing the full value of the $1.269 billion jackpot paid out over 30 years or the one-time cash option of $571.9 million. Both amounts were increased from the pre-draw estimate of $1.15 billion and $516.1 million on stronger-than-expected sales.
The $1.269 billion annuity and $571.9 million cash are before federal taxes. California does not consider lottery winnings as taxable income.
Since most Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners take the cash, let’s break it down assuming that trend continues. If the winner opts for the one-time payout, the $571.9 million will be reduced to approximately $360.3 million after an effective federal tax of 37%.
In June, Casino.org reported that lottery players in California, New York, and New Jersey are the luckiest players when it comes to Mega Millions and Powerball. Those three states lead in terms of the number of jackpots won since 2017.
That shouldn’t be much of a surprise, as California is the most populated state in the country and has one of the most robust lottery programs.
California, we’ve done it again! One lucky ticket sold at Circle K Stores on Rhonda Rd. in Cottonwood was the sole ticket across the nation to match all six numbers in tonight’s (Dec. 27) Mega Millions drawing!” the California Lottery posted on its social media channels.
Shasta County’s Cottonwood is perhaps best known for being where actor-comedian Chris Farley filmed his final film.
The 1998 movie “Almost Heroes,” an adventure comedy western that was met with negative reviews, was primarily filmed in Cottonwood. Farley starred alongside Matthew Perry, who like the former SNL star died of a drug overdose.
Shasta County is perhaps best known for being where the soft drink manufacturer originated. Shasta County is named after nearby Mount Shasta.
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Rephrased by The Mystic Gambler
Mega Millions didn’t deliver a life-changing gift on Christmas Eve as no ticket matched all six drawn numbers on Tuesday night.
The Mega Millions jackpot rolled over for a 30th time after the game’s top prize went unwon. The winning numbers on Tuesday were 1, 14, 38, 45, and 46, plus the gold Mega Ball 3.
Mega Millions officials estimate that the jackpot for Friday night’s drawing will reach $1.15 billion. That would rank as the game’s fifth-richest prize ever. Mega Millions dates back to 1996 when it debuted as The Big Game.
The Mega Millions Consortium, which operates the interstate lottery game on behalf of its 47 participating member jurisdictions, says the prize is growing fast amid the holiday gift-giving season.
We know that many people will likely receive tickets to Friday’s drawing as holiday gifts, and what a gift that would turn out to be if you ended up with a ticket worth a $1.15 billion jackpot,” said Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holidays — whether Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, or any other way people choose to celebrate the season — than by helping fulfill the dreams that come with a prize like this and prizes that will be won at all levels of the game.”
The one-time cash option for Friday’s drawing is projected to be around $516.1 million. Each ticket’s odds of winning the jackpot are just one in more than 302.5 million.
More than 100 tickets almost hit Tuesday night’s jackpot. 110 tickets matched five of the six balls.
Four tickets matched all five white balls to claim $1 million prizes. None of those tickets purchased the $1 add-on Megaplier, which would have tripled their payouts to $3 million after the Megaplier landed on 3x. The odds of matching all five white balls are one in 12.6 million.
There were also 116 tickets that matched the four white balls and the gold Mega Ball to win $10K each, the game’s third-best prize. The odds of a ticket matching that combination are one in 931K. Thirteen of those tickets had the Megaplier to win $30K.
There were additionally 2,621 tickets that matched four white balls to claim $500 prizes, with 452 including the Megaplier to win $1,500. Those odds are one in 38,792.
Most of Tuesday’s winning tickets — more than 2.8 million plays — matched only the gold Mega Ball to win back their $2 wager. There were 516,461 tickets that bought the Megaplier. The odds of winning back your initial wager are one in 37, as there are 37 gold Mega Balls.
Beginning in April, the cost of a basic Mega Millions play will soar 285% to $5. The number of balls, and therefore the jackpot’s odds, will remain the same. Each ticket will come with the Megaplier automatically included, meaning every winning ticket will return more than the original $5 wager.
The current Megaplier improves nonjackpot wins by 2x, 3x, 4x, and 5x. Come April, there will also be a 10x Megaplier in play.
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Rephrased by The Mystic Gambler
With the Mega Millions jackpot for Tuesday night’s drawing up to $1 billion and the holiday season in full swing, the interstate lottery game is reporting a surge in ticket sales.
The Mega Millions Consortium, which operates Mega Millions on behalf of the game’s participating lotteries and jurisdictions, initially projected the Christmas Eve jackpot to be around $944 million. However, after strong sales were experienced over the past 48 hours, the advertised jackpot for the 30-year annuity has climbed to $1 billion.
Lottery tickets make great gifts, though responsible gaming advocates stress they are inappropriate for kids and anyone else under the legal age to play. At $1 billion, tonight’s jackpot is the seventh-richest in Mega Millions history.
Each winner overcame the dismal odds of just one in 302,575,350 in matching the five white balls and gold Mega Ball. The odds of being struck by lightning, the CDC says, is about one in 40 million. You also have much better odds of dying in a plane crash at about 1 in 11 million.
If no one wins tonight, the Mega Millions jackpot will roll over for a 30th time for the game’s next drawing on Friday.
Mega Millions and Powerball are much better today at projecting the true amount of the advertised jackpot since most sales are now handled electronically. Electronic vending machines and online sales automatically relay data on sales volumes to state lotteries, which in turn transition the statistics to the Mega Millions Consortium.
When Mega Millions debuted in the 1990s, paper tickets led in terms of sales volume. Paper tickets require lottery retailers to report the number of sales at the end of each day to their state lottery.
Tuesday night’s $1 billion drawing goes down at 11 p.m. EST from Atlanta. Most states stop selling Mega Millions tickets for that night’s drawing 60 minutes before the draw.
If a ticket hits the five white balls and gold Mega Ball, the winner will need to choose whether to take the $1 billion paid out over 30 years or the one-time cash option of approximately $448.8 million.
After federal taxes, the cash option would be reduced to $282.8 million. The prize would then be subjected to state taxes in 36 states and Washington, DC. States implement varying taxes on lottery winnings from 2.5% in Arizona to as high as 10.9% in New York.
California, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming are the best states to win a lottery jackpot, as those states do not consider lottery earnings as taxable income.
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Rephrased by The Mystic Gambler
Monday marked the latest drawing of Powerball, America’s popular lottery game. While many tried their luck for the $58 million jackpot, no player was fortunate enough to match all winning numbers from the recent drawing.
Powerball’s drawing on Monday saw winning numbers 9, 30, 33, 57, 61 and the red Powerball number 17 drawn. The multiplier of the game’s Power Play feature was 2x, enabling lottery players who paid extra for the option to multiply their non-jackpot prizes.
While nobody matched all the winning numbers for the jackpot prize, one player nearly missed it. That is the case for a Colorado lottery player who matched all winning numbers with the exception of the red Powerball number on Monday. Usually, this would’ve granted the player a $1 million tier-two win. However, since they paid for the game’s Power Play feature, they multiplied the standard prize for a $2 million payday.
On the other hand, four lottery players matched correctly four white balls along with the red Powerball on Monday’s drawing. In the case of two players, they won a $100,000 Power Play prize each, while the other two won the standard $50,000 prize.
A total of 145 players matched correctly four white balls from Monday’s Powerball drawing. Some 36 players who paid extra for the Power Play feature won $200 each, while the remaining won the standard tier-four prize of $100 each.
The last time an incredibly lucky player won the Powerball Jackpot was exactly 10 days ago, on Saturday, December 7, 2024. At the time, a player who beat the odds of 1 in 292.2 million, won the game’s $256 million top prize.
The single winning ticket in New York matched correctly all winning numbers and the winner has an option to collect the full $256 million through annual installments or take home a lump cash sum of $123.5 million.
After the top prize survived the drawing on Monday, the jackpot is now estimated at $69 million. The cash value of the jackpot is $32.2 million.
The next Powerball drawing is scheduled for Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
An estimated $695 million was up for grabs last week from Mega Millions, the popular lottery game in the United States. While many tried their luck, nobody matched all the winning numbers from the game’s drawing on Friday the 13th last week. This allowed the jackpot to continue growing, surpassing the mind-blowing sum of $700 million.
The latest drawing saw winning numbers 36, 43, 52, 58 and 65 drawn, along with the gold Mega ball number 16. The cash option for Friday’s jackpot was $322.0 million. While nobody matched all winning numbers to win the jackpot prize, four lottery players nearly missed the top prize after matching all winning numbers with the exception of the gold Mega ball number.
One incredibly lucky Mega Millions player from Vermont matched the five white balls and paid extra for the game’s Megaplier. Considering that the Megaplier was 3X on Friday, the lucky player scored a sweet $3 million prize.
On the other hand, three other fortunate players collected the standard $1 million tier-two prize from the latest Mega Millions drawing. The game’s recent drawing produced one winner in New York, Massachusetts and California with each winning a $1 million tier-two prize.
A total of 28 lottery players matched four white balls along with the gold Mega ball for a tier-three payout. Out of that total, four collected a $30,000 Megaplier prize each, while the remaining took home the standard $10,000 tier-three prize each.
Surviving on Friday enables the jackpot from Mega Millions to hit $740 million, according to the popular lottery game. As usual, the grand prize has a cash option which is $342.9 million, a far cry from the initial sum but still completely life-changing.
The next Mega Millions drawing is scheduled for Tuesday, December 17 at 11 PM ET. In case a lucky lottery player beats the odds of 1 in 302.5 million to win the grand prize, they would be collecting the third largest jackpot for December in the history of the game.
It was more than a decade ago when the Mega Millions jackpot rose in the same month to a similar level and was won. At the time, two tickets won the $648 million prize on December 17, 2013. More recently, on December 17, 2019, a single winning ticket in Ohio won the Mega Millions jackpot for a sweet $375 million payday.
The last time a lucky lottery player scored the much-wanted grand prize was back in September when a single ticket matched all winning numbers for an $810 million win.
Friday the 13th is once again around the corner. While some cultures consider the day to be unlucky, or even the unluckiest day a year may have, fortunate lottery players, have won large prizes precisely on such dates.
That is the case of several Michigan lottery players who won big earlier this year, scoring prizes that varied in size. Now, with Friday the 13th hours away, many Americans are likely going to try their luck for the growing Mega Millions jackpot.
The lottery game’s latest drawing was on Tuesday. Several players matched correctly all winning numbers with the exception of the Mega ball, enabling the grand prize to continue growing. While an estimated $619 million jackpot was up for grabs on Tuesday, the Mega Millions grand prize now inches closer to the mind-blowing sum of $700 million.
An estimate from the popular lottery game confirms that the grand prize is expected to hit $670 million in the upcoming drawing. If an incredibly fortunate player matches all winning numbers on the upcoming draw, they can also select a cash option which would be $317.8 million. As noted, the next drawing of Mega Millions is scheduled for Friday, December 13.
The odds of winning the top prize from Mega Millions are always the same, regardless of how many players purchase tickets. Scoring the jackpot has odds of 1 in 302.5 million.
From the latest drawing, a total of four players matched correctly the winning white balls, 12, 14, 26, 48 and 52. One of the tickets, belonging to an incredibly lucky player from Florida who paid extra for the game’s Megaplier option, won $5 million. The remaining three tickets, two in California and one in Maryland won the standard $1 million prize.
On the other hand, nearly three dozen fortunate players won a tier-three prize after matching correctly four white balls along with the red Mega ball. Six players paid extra for Mega Millions’ Megaplier option, increasing their payout to $50,000 each. On the other hand, the remaining 23 players collected the standard $10,000 prize each.
Recently, the winner of a Mega Millions jackpot from California, who already claimed half of the prize, filed a lawsuit, asking for the remaining half of the top prize. While the lawsuit was filed earlier this month, the drawing in question dates back to December 8, 2023. The fortunate player, who already collected $197.5 million, claimed that he also purchased a second identical ticket, which is why he is due to receive the full $394 million jackpot.
