Lotto winner scores $841 million jackpot
A lucky player has scored an enormous $841 million jackpot, ending a drought lasting just over three months.
Somebody’s feeling like a million bucks!
A Mega Millions player in Illinois, United States won a jackpot worth $841 million ($US560 million) on Tuesday night, ending a drought lasting just over three months.
The winning numbers were 19, 37, 40, 63, 69, and the gold Mega ball 17.
It was the ninth-largest jackpot prize in the game’s history, the New York Post reports.
The lucky winner can either claim the outright $841 million ($US560 million) or choose the one-time cash payout of $396 million ($US264 million).
Tuesday night’s win is the second time the Mega Millions jackpot ballooned past $750 million ($US500 million) since last summer.
It is also the first time the grand prize was won since March 26 when a lucky New Jersey player purchased a ticket worth $1.7 billion ($US1.13 billion).
Mega Millions players have a 1 in 302,575,350 chance of winning the jackpot in any drawing.
The March jackpot win was the fifth largest in the game’s history.
The life-changing ticket was sold at ShopRite Liquor on Route 66 in Neptune Township.
The New Jersey grocery store received a $45,000 ($US30,000) bonus check for selling the winning ticket.
No winner has come forward to claim their prize, of either the $1.7 billion ($US1.13 billion) in annual instalments over 30 years, or a one-time lump sum estimated at $807 million ($US537.5 million).
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Under New Jersey law, lottery winners can remain anonymous and the prizes can be claimed up to a year after the drawing.
The Lottery Office, which is wholly Australian-owned, allows Aussies a shot at the massive US prize pool through its government-licenced USA Mega Lotto, which is matched to the US Mega Millions lottery.
This story was published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission