More than $230 million was up for grabs from Mega Millions on the game’s latest drawing last week. To be [Read more…] about Mega Millions Jackpot Survives Recent Draw, Surpasses $250M
Mega Millions Jackpot Survives Recent Draw, Surpasses $250M
Single Ticket Wins Massive AU$60M Powerball Jackpot
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
Single Ticket Wins $1.269B Mega Millions Jackpot, Ninth-Richest in U.S. History
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.
Winning Breakdown
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.
411 on Cottonwood
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 Jackpot Approaches $700M for Friday the 13th Drawing
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.
Mega Millions Jackpot Hits $670M
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.
Several Players Collected Tier-Two Prizes
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.
$197.5M Mega Millions Winner Sues California Lottery for Another $197.5M
A Los Angeles man who won half of a $394 million Mega Millions jackpot a year ago is suing the California Lottery for the other half.
Faramarz Lahijani claims he purchased two tickets with the same numbers from a Chevron gas station for the Dec. 8, 2023 draw, but he lost one of them. He still can’t find it.
Lahijani came forward to collect the first half of the prize, $197.5 million, in June, but didn’t comment publicly, telling the Lottery he wasn’t interested in speaking to the media.
Unusual Transaction
It’s not clear why Lahijani chose to purchase two tickets with the same numbers when one would have had the same effect.
The Lottery announced just after the draw that both winning tickets had been sold at the same outlet, a Chevron gas station on Ventura Boulevard in Encino – a first.
A Lottery spokesperson indicated that the two winning tickets had been purchased “over two separate transactions,” but could only speculate as to why.
“While this is incredibly unusual and interesting, it’s not unheard of,” the spokesperson said. “There are any number of explanations. Perhaps one person wanted to try their luck on two different rows for whatever reason, or maybe a couple of buddies wanted to try their chances with the same exact numbers. We won’t know exactly how this happened until the prize is claimed.”
Breach of Contract
In his lawsuit, filed last Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Lahijani spells it out in black and white. He claims he purchased both winning Mega Millions tickets, is the “sole winner,” and is therefore “entitled to the entire jackpot … by virtue of his having timely submitted the first matching ticket.”
He also argues the Lottery has sufficient information to know that he is the rightful winner of the whole jackpot. The purchase of lottery tickets creates a contractual relationship between the buyer and the California Lottery, which the latter is violating by not paying out, according to the lawsuit.
The suit was filed just days before the date the alleged lost ticket would expire, Dec. 8, 2024, “out of an abundance of caution to preserve all rights which he has to the entire December 8, 2023 Mega Millions jackpot.”
The Lottery has said it has no comment on the ongoing lawsuit.
One party that has no complaint about the situation is the gas station where the two winning tickets were sold. Under California rules, retailers that sell a ticket worth more than $1 million earn a bonus of 0.5% of the prize value. Because the Chevron in Encino sold two – whomever it may have sold the second one to – it got a record bonus of $1.9 million.
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Rephrased by The Mystic Gambler
Mega Millions Jackpot Soars to $619M for Next Drawing
The jackpot from Mega Millions was an estimated $579 million at the latest drawing of the popular lottery game on Friday. With a cash option at $278.4 million, many tried their luck for the game’s grand prize, but nobody matched correctly the winning numbers 16, 21, 33, 39, 45 and the gold Mega ball 24.
Now, ahead of the next drawing of Mega Millions, the jackpot surpassed the mind-blowing sum of $600 million.
Close to $620M up for Grabs from Mega Millions
After nobody was lucky enough to beat the odds of 1 in 302.5 million on Friday, the jackpot from Mega Millions is now estimated at $619 million. Not unexpectedly, the cash option for the top prize is also astronomical, as sweet $297.7 million.
The next Mega Millions drawing is scheduled for Tuesday, December 10 at 11 PM ET. In case a winner matches correctly all winning white balls together with the gold Mega ball, they would be able to collect the entire $619 million jackpot via annual installments or instantly take home a lump sum of nearly $300 million thanks to the cash option. Usually, jackpot winners select the latter option as they can instantly take a sum of nearly half of the jackpot.
Nobody Won the Jackpot or a Tier-Two Prize
Undoubtedly, millions of players tried their luck for the top prize in Mega Millions’ latest draw. Regretfully, not only did nobody win the jackpot but there was also no one that matched four white balls for a tier two $1 million prize.
On the bright side, more than two dozen lottery players matched correctly four white balls along with the gold Mega ball on the Mega Millions drawing from Friday. Four of those lucky players paid extra for the game’s Megaplier option, enabling them to collect a $20,000 prize each. On the other hand, the remaining 22 players took home a prize of $10,000 each.
A total of 756 players matched correctly four white balls for a tier-four prize. Of that total, 177 players collected a $1,000 Megaplier prize each, while the remaining won the standard $500 prize each.
The last time a lucky winner won the Mega Millions jackpot was back in September. At the time, a Texas player hit the game’s grand prize.
If won on Tuesday, the $619 million jackpot would be the 10th largest jackpot in Mega Millions’ history.
Mega Millions Jackpot Hits $541M Ahead of Next Drawing
The most recent drawing for America’s popular lottery game, Mega Millions, took place on Friday, November 29, 2024. While many tried their luck for the $514 million jackpot at the time, no ticket matched correctly white balls 3, 29, 34, 37 and 38 along with the gold Mega Ball 17.
Mega Millions Grand Prize Continues to Increase
Ahead of the holidays, the grand prize of the popular lottery game now continues to grow. An estimated $541 million jackpot will be up for grabs on the next drawing scheduled for Tuesday, December 3, 2024, at 11 PM ET.
As usual, there’s a cash option for the jackpot, in case a lucky winner beats the 1 in 302.5 million odds of winning the top prize. In case this happens, and the fortunate winner picks the cash option, they would benefit from $257.6 million before the applicable state and federal taxes are applied.
If won on Tuesday, the Mega Millions jackpot would be the second largest for the month of December since the launch of the game in 2002. A total of 13 grand prizes have been won in December since 2002 and only one jackpot was bigger than the current estimate.
The largest jackpot in December was $648 million which was split by two players, one from Georgia and one from California back on December 17, 2013. Besides the second-largest jackpot in December, the current estimated jackpot is only the third time the grand prize has surpassed $500 million for this month in particular.
The Recent Drawing Produced Nearly 1M Winning Tickets
Not unexpectedly, the growth of the jackpot coincides with an increase in the interest in Mega Millions. While there was no winner of the grand prize from the latest drawing on November 29, there were some 854,056 winning tickets within the game’s different prize tiers.
A fortune Mega Millions player from Oregon matched correctly all white balls for a $1 million tier-two prize. On the other hand, 22 tickets across the country matched four white balls together with the gold Mega Ball for a tier-three prize. Out of the 22 tickets, six paid extra for the game’s Megaplier option, taking home $20,000 each, while the remaining took home $10,000 each.
A total of 516 fortunate players matched correctly four white balls in Friday’s drawing. While 102 of those won a $1,000 Megaplier prize each, the remaining players collected the standard $500 prize each.
