The amazing Mega Millions jackpot run is over! A lucky ticket-holder in Illinois will be celebrating as the latest winner of a billion-dollar lottery jackpot. One ticket matched all six numbers in the July 29 drawing – the white balls 13, 36, 45, 57 and 67, plus the gold Mega Ball 14 – to win the prize of $1.337 billion ($780.5 million cash), but on the local side, someone purchased a ticket at the Publix on John Young Parkway and Pleasant Hill Road and will take home $2 million, according to Mega Millions. The person who purchased the ticket hit the winning white ball numbers: 13-36-45-57-67, also went for the optional Megaplier (available in most states with an extra $1 purchase) so the payout is doubled – $2 Million!
That wasn’t the only tickets purchased in Florida that will be paying some big dividends, a $1 million prize went to a ticket sold at a Cumberland Farms in Jensen Beach, a ticket bought at a Sebring Truck Stop (neither purchased the multiplier), and two other $2 million winners bought their tickets at Big Boss Stores in Defuniak Springs and a Winn Dixie in Palm Harbor and did go for the multipliee.
““We are thrilled to have witnessed one of the biggest jackpot wins in Mega Millions history, said Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald, currently serving as Lead Director for the Mega Millions Consortium. “We’re eager to find out who won and look forward to congratulating the winner soon! Better still, this exciting jackpot run has had a significant positive impact on the revenues for good causes raised by our member lotteries. ”
In total, there were 14,391,740 winning tickets sold across all nine prize tiers in the July 29 drawing, including the single jackpot-winning ticket, so folks – still check those tickets!
In the 30 drawings in this jackpot run, there were more than 42.5 million winning tickets at all prize levels, including 68 second-tier prizes. Those big $1 million-plus prizes were won in 24 different states across the country: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
This is the fifth Mega Millions jackpot won to date this year. The fun started with a $426 million prize in California on January 28, followed by $128 million in New York on March 8, $110 million in Minnesota on April 12 (that state’s very first Mega Millions jackpot win), and $20 million in Tennessee on April 15.
The jackpot for the next drawing on Tuesday, August 2, resets to its current starting value of $20 million ($11.6 million cash).
