Mega Millions jackpot worth $207M still up for grabs

A torrent of ticket sales sent the Poweball jackpot soaring again, to $259.9 million — up $15 million since the $245 million estimate was established Saturday — and then one ticket won last night.

Unless you bought your Powerball ticket in South Carolina, your only shot at a $200+ million lottery jackpot is tomorrow night's Mega Millions drawing.

The store that sold the ticket is the Murphy USA gas station at 7530 Garners Ferry Road in Columbia, located near the Wal-Mart store, according to a press release by the state lottery commission.

The $259,900,000 ticket is the 10th-largest Powerball jackpot ever and the biggest in South Carolina since its inception in 2002.

The lucky winner can also choose to take the massive prize as a lump-sum cash payment of $129.5 million.

According to the Powerball Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega (www.usamega.com/powerball-jackpot.asp?d=8/19/2009), the cash option payout to the winner after federal and state tax withholdings will be $88,060,000.

A news conference is planned to be held Thursday at the Columbia store.

Amber Baldwin is an assistant manager and she said she's been selling even more tickets since the announcement was made.

The winning numbers for the Wednesday, August 19, Powerball drawing were 14-24-31-43-51, with a Powerball number of 27.  The Power Play number was 5.

The winner has 90 days from the official end of the game to cash in the ticket.

17 lucky players got very close to lottery mega-wealth by matching the first 5 numbers for a $200,000 prize.  Those second-prize tickets were sold in the following states: 2 from Arizona, 3 from Florida (1 with Power Play), 2 from Indiana (both with Power Play), 1 from Iowa (with Power Play), 1 from Kentucky, 1 from Minnesota, 1 from North Carolina, 2 from Pennsylvania, 1 from West Virginia, and 3 from Wisconsin.

The second-prize tickets sold with the Power Play option will receive a prize of $1 million.  Power Play may be purchased for an additional $1 per ticket.

Powerball's top prize is back to $20 million for Saturday's drawing.

The biggest current jackpot in the USA is the $207 million up for grabs in the Mega Millions lottery, which will be drawn Friday night at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time.  Mega Millions is played in 12 states.

The winning numbers for the highly-anticipated Mega Millions drawing will be published within minutes of the draw time on the USA Mega Web site (www.usamega.com).

Powerball is played in 30 states, including Delaware.

USA Mega is a national resource for the United States' two major multi-state games, Powerball and Mega Millions.  Players can access USA Mega for the latest winning numbers, as well as past results, lottery news stories, jackpot analysis that presents after-tax jackpot amounts for each individual state, lottery results statistics, and an extensive archive of frequently asked questions about the games.