Friday night’s Mega Millions jackpot was a staggering $1.28 billion after no one won an $810 million in Tuesday night’s raffle.
This is the third largest lottery jackpot in US history, with one person winning $1.586 billion in Powerball in January 2016 and another winning $1.53 billion in Mega Millions in October 2018.
It’s the 30th grand prix draw in this grand prix that began on April 19 and the second-biggest Grand Prix ever at the Mega Millions, as well as the third time it has crossed $1 billion.
Millions of tickets for America’s two-decade-long game of lottery were sold last night – but did anyone win?
Well, there are no official reports from Mega Millions at the time of writing this, but there are rumors that someone in Illinois has hit the jackpot…
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Rumors that the winning ticket was sold out in Illinois
According to the official Illinois lottery website, which lists all lottery winners in the state, the winning ticket has been sold out in Illinois.
The site claims that one lucky person who matches all five numbers and the giant ball will win the grand prize of $1.28 billion.
However, the Illinois lottery does not specify whether the ticket was actually claimed or purchased by an Illinois resident.
It’s possible that if the reports are correct, the winner hasn’t actually checked the numbers and claimed his ticket yet.
If the Illinois site is wrong and no winning ticket is sold, the jackpot will roll again and could become the biggest jackpot in Mega Millions history.
Until Mega Millions releases an official report, there is no confirmation that the rumored winner in Illinois is real.
Friday night winning numbers
Friday night’s winning numbers are 13, 36, 45, 57, 67 And a huge ball of 14.
If you match them all, you will win a huge jackpot of $1.28 million. However, smaller prizes can be won in other matches.
Matching one Mega Ball will earn you $2, while matching one number and one Mega Ball will earn you $4 and two numbers and the Mega Ball will earn you $10.
The bets increase slightly when you match three numbers, a giant $200 ball and four numbers are $500.
However, don’t start winning the big dollar until you have four numbers and a huge $10,000 ball or five numbers i.e. a million dollars.
You see, there are plenty of ways to win – so be sure to check your numbers again to see if you have any money to take home!
Two ways to get the grand prize for the house
The potential winner in Illinois can choose from two different ways to receive their money.
You can get the grand prize in one payment equal to all the cash in the Mega Millions prize pool if you wish.
In this case, the total estimated cash you’ll get from the $1.28 billion jackpot is $747.2 million, but after taxes this will be much less.
However, you can also choose the annuity option which means that the grand prize is paid in one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments over 30 years.
Each payment is 5% larger than the previous one and Mega Millions believes this “helps protect the winners’ lifestyle and purchasing power in periods of inflation.”
Twitter users are really jealous
Everyone was hoping to win the third biggest lottery jackpot in US history and they’re really jealous that someone in Illinois could be a millionaire.
One person tweeted:
Another said:
A third person added:
Another wrote:
Well, there is always next time.
In other news, $1.28 billion winner at Illinois’ Mega Millions is rumored – but no official confirmation yet