$1.35 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot Claimed by Maine Resident
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Friday the 13th might not be so spooky after all!
The second-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history, $1.35 billion, is about to be taken home by a Maine resident, who scooped the winning numbers earlier this week.
Without a jackpot winner since Oct. 14., the lottery had reached almost-new heights, which means a big payday for the ticket buyer who chose the numbers 30, 43, 45, 46, 61, and Mega Ball 14.
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"Congratulations to the Maine State Lottery, which has just won its first-ever Mega Millions jackpot," Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald said in a release. "It's the fourth billion-dollar jackpot in Mega Millions history. We thank all our retailers for their hard work during this spectacular run, and our customers for their enthusiasm and support. I hope the fun and excitement Mega Millions has generated inspires a winning attitude in our daily lives and towards everyone we meet. Here's to a good year!"
The ticket-holder's victory marks the first jackpot win for Maine and is the second-largest victory behind the $1.53 billion won in October 2018. Another $1.337 billion was won in 2022, and the now third-largest Mega Millions jackpot ended with a winner in Des Plaines, about 20 miles northwest of Chicago.
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The 2018 winner collected the jackpot of $1.337 billion for what at the time was considered the third-largest jackpot of any U.S. lottery game, according to the Illinois Lottery. The sum was then split between two people who had agreed to do so, per the Illinois Lottery.
"They stopped into the Speedway in Des Plaines and grabbed a Mega Millions ticket while they were there," Illinois Lottery Director Harold Mays said, according to a press release. "That turned out to be an absolutely life-changing decision when a $3 line of Mega Millions with Megaplier turned into a $1.34 billion jackpot win."
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Mega Millions ticket
While all details about the latest victory — such as the identity of the winner — have not been shared publicly, the jackpot win did take 26 draws and marks the seventh on a Friday the 13th since the game began in 2002, per Mega Millions. It was purchased at Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, which will now receive a selling bonus of $50,000, per the Maine State Lottery and WGME. The odds of winning were 1 in 302.6 million.
"Hey everyone. Lebanon is in the news ( for good reasons)," the business shared on Facebook. "Thanks for all the support from our customers. We are anxiously waiting to see if it is someone we see regularly here in town that won a whopping 1.3 BIILLLLION DOLLARS."
Fourteen tickets earned $1 million via the game's second-tier prize Friday. Of those tickets, four were sold in New York, two in California, and one each in Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas.
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The new winner's prize sum equates to $723.5 million in cash — and they can decide between 30 annuity payments worth (before taxes) $1.35 billion, or the one-time cash payment.
The next Mega Millions drawing may find a winner for $20 million ($10.7 million cash) — its current starting jackpot — on Jan. 17.
Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the US Virgin Islands, where drawings are on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET. Tickets are sold online in Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and D.C., but the purchaser must be in that state.
