Lottery news coming to us from across the pond reveals that the number ‘2’ has been extremely lucky for one Mega Millions player in the state of New Jersey. On the drawing of February 11th, the jackpot stood at an eye-watering $202m and now, New Jersey Lottery Executive Director James A. Carey, Jr. has revealed that not only was the jackpot won, but there was just the one winner matching all numbers drawn.
“We are thrilled that the winning ticket was sold in Middlesex County. I’m happy to congratulate Quick Stop Food Store on 940 Inman Ave. in Edison, the retailer that sold this winning ticket,” said Carey.
“Congratulations, too, to the winner of this multi-million-dollar jackpot! We encourage the winner to sign the back of the ticket, make a copy of both sides and put it in a safe place, and contact Lottery headquarters at 609-599-5875 to arrange to file a claim for this “MEGA” jackpot prize.”
The winning numbers for the Mega Millions drawing were…
…04, 06, 32, 52 and 64. The ‘Gold Mega Ball’ was 06 and the ‘Megaplier’ was 02. It’s estimated that the lucky ticket holder will receive a prize of $202,000,000 annuity or, if opting for the cash equivalent, it would be $142,200,000. That’s $202m on the 2nd month of 2020 - you couldn’t write it! How lucky is that?
Time is Precious
The winner has exactly a year from the date of the drawing to make a claim for the winnings. If you’re an LBB’er from the US, you may want to check those tickets if you’re yet to do so. Especially if you’re a resident of New Jersey.
The news also revealed that there were many other big winners in this same Mega Millions lotto draw; 18 other players matched four of the five main numbers drawn to win $500 each and one of those ticket holders had purchased the ‘Megaplier,’ making that ticket worth $1000. According to Carey, more than 36,700 players in the same state took home $139,414 in cash prizes, ranging from $2 to $400.
Over in West Virginia, the game’s second largest prize was won…
…$1,000,000. Four other winners scooped $10K each when matching four balls plus the ‘Mega Ball,’ however, two of those also had the ‘Megaplier’ in playmaking those worth $20K each. What a bonus!
Mega Millions tickets cost just $2 per play. The aim of the game is to pick and match six numbers from two separate pools of numbers; five from 1 to 70 (the white balls) and one from 1 to 25 (the gold ‘Mega Ball’). When a jackpot is won, it resets to $40m and there are nine ways to win:
- Gold ball: $2 win
- 1 number and the Gold Ball: $4
- 2 numbers and the Gold Ball: $10
- 3 numbers: $10
- 3 numbers and the Gold Ball: $200
- 4 numbers: $500
- 4 numbers and the Gold Ball: $10K
- 5 numbers: $1,000,000
- 5 numbers and the Gold Ball: Jackpot!
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,250. Statistically speaking, you’ve more chance of being murdered – multiple times what with 1 in 6,100 in the US meeting a grizzly end. But someone’s got to win, right?
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Comments (1)
Bubles12
02/21/20, 11:02:40 AM
What a fantastic win! I never understand what the US require winners to ‘hire’ services of financial advisors. What’s that all about? In the UK we can take our winnings and do what we please.
