$636 Million Mega Millions jackpot split by 2 tickets

Dec 18, 2013, 7:18 am (86 comments)

Mega Millions

Winners in California, Georgia

Includes video report

Winning tickets for an estimated $636 million Mega Millions jackpot, the second biggest in U.S. lottery history, were sold in San Jose, California and Atlanta, Georgia, lottery officials said late on Tuesday evening.

There was no immediate word about who the winners were, but one winning ticket was bought at a retail location whose name was given as Jennifer's Gift Shop on Tully Road in San Jose, according to Alex Traverso, a lottery official in the western U.S. state.

A second winning ticket was bought at a Gateway Newstands convenience store on Lenox Road in Atlanta, a lottery official in the southeastern state said.

The winning numbers for Tuesday's drawing were: 8, 14, 17, 20, and 39, with Mega Ball number 7.  The Megaplier number was 4.

The winners would split the jackpot, though they can each choose whether to claim the money as an annuity paid out over 30 years or as a lump sum cash payout, which would amount to half each of an estimated $341 million haul, the lottery said.

The prize swelled after a spike in sales ahead of Tuesday night's drawing. As much as 70 percent of the tickets are typically bought on the day of the drawing, said Paula Otto, Virginia's lottery director, who heads the multi-state Mega Millions game.

Ticket buying reached a fever pitch over the weekend, with 20 percent more chances sold than expected, Otto said.

The surge of spending pushed the prize closer to the record U.S. jackpot of $656 million, won in March 2012 in a Mega Millions drawing.

"We're awfully close, just $20 million. We're right on it," Otto said on Tuesday.

Totals would be updated again after the drawing, she said.

By Tuesday's drawing, players should have bought enough tickets to cover 65 percent to 75 percent of the 259 million possible number combinations to strike it rich, Otto said.

"You don't know you have a winner unless it's 100 percent covered, though," she said.

Tuesday's Mega Millions jackpot was the accumulation of 21 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner over a two-and-a-half month stretch. The final jackpot tally nearly eclipsed the world record jackpot of $656 million, set in March, 2012.

The two winners probably got very little sleep Tuesday night, as they try to process winning one of the world's largest lottery jackpots.

Are the winners running around the house screaming? Are they calling their family? Or maybe calling their boss to quit their job? What are they planning to do with all that loot?

What is the first thing you would do?

Fortunately, even if you didn't win the jackpot, the Mega Millions game still offers another 8 ways to win lower-tier prizes.

In addition to the jackpot winners, 20 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 2 from California, 1 from Delaware, 2 from Florida, 2 from Georgia, 1 from Illinois, 1 from Kentucky, 1 from Maryland, 1 from Michigan, 1 from Nebraska, 2 from New Jersey, 2 from New York, 1 from Ohio, 1 from South Carolina, 1 from Texas, and 1 from West Virginia.

The 2 California winners will each be awarded prizes of $2,621,916 because California awards all prizes in a pari-mutuel formula, which calculates the prize amount based on the number of tickets sold and the number of winners in each prize category.

Also, a whopping 631 tickets matched four of the first five numbers plus the Mega Ball to win a $5,000 prize. Of those tickets, 86 were sold in California, where the prize awarded this drawing is $3,347.

The Mega Millions jackpot was reset to its starting amount of $15 million for Friday's drawing.  Due to the rules changes enacted in October, the jackpot will grow faster than before — it will increase a minimum of $5 million each drawing it is not won.

Mega Millions is currently offered for sale in 43 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mega Millions drawings are held each Tuesday and Friday evening at 11:00 p.m., and the winning numbers are published minutes later at USA Mega, a Web site devoted to the two biggest United States lotteries, Mega Millions and Powerball.

VIDEO: Watch the press report

Lottery Post Staff, with wire reports from Reuters

Comments

Shelby Mustang

All I can say is...I wish it had of been me LOL. No Good Luck and a Super Merry Christmas to the winners. Wouldnt it be great if it was somebody on unemployment and couldnt find a job or something like that and the got this huge financial blessing just in time...That's my Christmas wish

Kee12's avatarKee12

Congratulations to the winners. At least, the lottery fever will be at rest for now. We didn't win anything. We look forward to SLP later today as one ticket was bought for that as well.

phoneman76's avatarphoneman76

Quote: Originally posted by Shelby Mustang on Dec 18, 2013

All I can say is...I wish it had of been me LOL. No Good Luck and a Super Merry Christmas to the winners. Wouldnt it be great if it was somebody on unemployment and couldnt find a job or something like that and the got this huge financial blessing just in time...That's my Christmas wish

Ironically that happened here in Ga where lady who was unemployed ask the clerk for a won on mega millions and accidentally gave her a PowerBook ticket and won 72 million but  i doubt that's the case here bc this newsstand on Lenox rd is Located in a Upscale mall so it either a mall employee, shopper or the newsstand owner

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

well that was fun

Thinking of...

Piaceri

Quote: Originally posted by hearsetrax on Dec 18, 2013

well that was fun

Thinking of...

I had fun, party pooper. Green laugh

 

Congrats to the winners. Hurray!

 

Not happy with MM starting cash is no different than before, despite the 'increase' of the annuity to $15m. Oh well, onward to Powerball! Woo hoo! White Bounce

Win$500Quick's avatarWin$500Quick

Congrats and Merry Christmas to the 2 lucky winners.

whiteballz's avatarwhiteballz

personally, I wish the jackpot rolled. It's going to take months for the JP to build up again.

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

SleepyCompletely anticlimactic!!!

helpmewin's avatarhelpmewin

Quote: Originally posted by hearsetrax on Dec 18, 2013

well that was fun

Thinking of...

Green laugh

Todd's avatarTodd

I'm not sure why it takes the states so long to come up with a final jackpot tally for Mega Millions, but apparently the jackpot total for the Tuesday drawing could wind up being something like $648 million.  Not the record, but pretty close.

sully16's avatarsully16

Congrats to the lucky winners, On to the next!Cheers

DDOH937's avatarDDOH937

Well, A bit disappointed it didn't roll at least once more but a hearty congrats to the winners!!! Be smart, careful and all the best!! I've got next!!!

surimaribo24's avatarsurimaribo24

luck changed two human live overnight from rag to riches style . congrats to the winners

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

Quote: Originally posted by mypiemaster on Dec 18, 2013

SleepyCompletely anticlimactic!!!

SleepyCompletely anticlimactic for real.Bed

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