2 tickets from Idaho and Washington split $380 million Mega Millions jackpot
By Todd Northrop
Update: Final draw-time jackpot increased, cash value was largest ever
Update 2: California prizes added
After a lottery ticket buying frenzy swept across America this week, the massive, seemingly unstoppable Mega Millions jackpot has finally been taken down.
Tuesday's $380 million jackpot was the second-largest jackpot ever in the United States, second only to the $390 million Mega Millions jackpot on March 6, 2007.
Two tickets — one sold in Idaho and the other in Washington — matched all six numbers, and will evenly split the grand prize.
The official jackpot estimate was raised twice, on Monday and again on Tuesday, as sales continued to exceed expectations. After the final tally of sales, the final Mega Millions jackpot was $380 million, with a lump-sum cash value of $240,050,537.
Although the Tuesday jackpot will be recorded as the second-largest jackpot in history, the $240 million lump-sum cash value is the world's largest ever awarded. In comparison, the cash value for the March 6, 2007 jackpot was $233 million.
The winning numbers Tuesday night were 4, 8, 15, 25, and 47, with a Mega Ball number of 42. The Megaplier number was 4.
"Idaho is a very lucky place," said Jeff Anderson, Idaho Lottery Director. "We are encouraging everyone who has played Mega Millions to check their tickets carefully for winners. We are also recommending all our players sign the back of their ticket prior to presenting it for payment. These tickets are bearer instruments and we want to ensure our winners protect their play."
In addition to the 2 jackpot winners, another 67 tickets matched the first 5 numbers (but not the Mega Ball number) for a $250,000 prize: 2 from Arkansas, 10 from California, 1 from Colorado, 1 from Connecticut, 5 from Georgia, 1 from Idaho, 4 from Illinois, 1 from Indiana, 2 from Kentucky, 6 from Massachusetts, 3 from Michigan, 1 from Nebraska, 3 from New Jersey, 11 from New York, 3 from North Carolina, 4 from Ohio, 1 from Pennsylvania, 2 from South Carolina, 2 from Tennessee, 2 from Texas, 1 from Virginia, and 1 from Wisconsin.
The ten California second-prize winners will each be awarded prizes of $209,300. Unlike the other Mega Millions states, California sets all prize amounts using a pari-mutuel formula that is calculated based on the actual sales and number of winners.
Winners have 180 days to claim their prizes in both Idaho and Washington.
Idaho Lottery offices will be open during regular business hours from 8 am to 5 pm Mountain Time.
Washington Lottery Offices are open Monday through Friday between 8 am and 5 pm Pacific Time.
out of millions of tickets purchased, and millions of combinations covered, and only 2 winners, all that previous talk about increasing your odds thru the purchase of more than one ticket was obviously like i said it was.....
.....a waste of money (at least from an increasing one's "odds" perspective).
from the $50 million mark on, i was only out $1 QP a draw.
tonight, i don't suffer from "buyers remorse"......lol
to put it quite simply, that sucks.
Oh well......16 bucks down the drain...but it was nice daydreaming about if I did win all day yesterday!!!
Congratulations to the winners!
That kind of money will really change lives.
It's very unfortunate that I live in VA.
The next Mega Millions winner should be from VA.
Good luck everyone!
Better to know you are not going to win (read the odds) and be supprised and happy. If you "know" you are going to win and do not win (like a LOT of us) you could be depressed today.
I'm with you "increase" we here in VA could use a good winner
well heres to the next Mega jackpot
I must say, when I woke up this morning, it's the very first time I had buyer's remorse - and that was before I checked to see what states were the big winner. I only spent around $40, but that's a HUGE amount for me. Usually it's just $5.
However, I haven't checked my tickets yet to see if I won $1 million, so hopefully....
What is the "megaplier" ??
Well I said I wanted to win mega million and I won 2.00 had the mega ball should have said I wanted to win the jackpot LOL
Guess I should've played Hurley's numbers
Would've had 4, 8, 15 and MB 42 = $150
Congrats to all the winners.
You can say that again. The people that won better do good with that money...
Random # picked at drawing which multiplies non-jackpot winnings. This draw it was 4. So all non-jackpot winnings were multiplied by 4....Extra $1 during play time. Not all states offer it
Also if you have 5/5 with MegaPlier and no Mega Ball automatic $1 Million
Wow! Somebody won from my state...it's about time. I think it's been about 4 yrs since the last winner....really was wishing it would have been me.
Congratulation to the 2 winners.
Interesting, that was brought up on a FL lottery blog not too long ago, in which those #s matched either 3 or 4 as well
I had 4 and 8 together, but only because my mom was born in April and my dad was born in August. (Also because yesterday was my birthday - that's the only reason I played). I won $2 with a bonus ball match on my birthday. Yay.
That prize should pay out far more than $150 if the odds of 3+1 are 1:13,781. That's why I don't play this game on any regular basis - the lower-tier prize payouts are lousy.
News story reported from within the drawing studio
I had one ticket, it's in the trash right now. I wonder how many people went way overboard hoping to win? The odds are crazy. I half expected
one person to win. I'm happy to see that 2 people won but wish it could have been more.
ah oh will, glad we know mm can sure pull a nice big run on us, all the players don't play to its high, so the 41 states helps out the must when its high, this run had even me guesting the amounts wrong it was higher!
but 67 5-0 winners also, this jackpot was doomed atfer that 5th white ball
i just told my self no star bucks coffe for me for the rest of the month, any money spent was jsut throw away money to begin with :P
was fun to dream about such high amounts :D
I'm so happy I didnt win last night.. The thought of not having my morning coffee in peace would have just ruined my day//
God Speed
Yes indeed VA is long overdue!!!
I see the odds is one big rotten fish in a tank!! something smells fishy to me!!!
I told my wife before the drawing that Idaho was going to be a winner how did i know? mega millions will shift from odds to geographical areas!! Take a minute to think about it every body and every state was in a freenzy,who win two laid back states who have not won in years!! im quite sure Idaho did not have lines of buyers at they retail stores wraped around the building!!! anyways congrats to the winners!!
THANKS FOR SHARING THIS AFTER THE DRAWING! I would of at least played the numbers :X
Congrats to Todd for breaking the old online record!
25,791
on January 4, 2011, 11:30 pm
If you really want to win a jackpot folks...stick with your Pick 5 game!
The "megaplier" was 4. So those who megaplied and won on the lower tier prizes received 4 times their wins.
So if you hit on the $150 level and megaplied, then you walk away with a nice $600 bucks. Not bad for a drawing, provided that the winner did not overspend.
I am happy to say that my family broke even in last night's drawing. We spent $20 on 10 combinations and won our $20 back. The same thing happened to us on 12-31-10.
So we are able to return the $20 to the gambling fund for our next venture.
To all my dear, dear, dear friends in Idaho and Washington that I have not seen for many, many years. I have been thinking of you a lot lately. We really should get together soon.
All My Love Forever,
Jack
BTW, when we meet, I have this terrific business opportunity I would like to tell you about.
haha that crazy, i use to play that number all the time too, lol
Since Idaho and Washington border one another, it is possible that one store could have sold both winning tickets.
I bought 5 tickets, like a visit to Mc Donalds for a hamburger meal!!
Hopefully everyone caught the fact that the news story has been updated with the actual jackpot amount at draw-time: $380 million! The cash value of $240 million was the largest in history.
Can anyone guess how many tickets must have bought for this mega million ticket for this draw?
Make a Guess!!
Has anybody seen "That Scary Chick"; she was from Idaho?
Now known as "That Scary Rich Chick".
She was the 1st person I thought of when I heard the location of 1 of the winning tickets
Congratulations to both Jackpot Winners...... I just go off the phone with all my relatives in Washington State....... unfortuntely none of them live in Eastern Washigton......
Frustratingly, the official Mega Millions organization continues reporting Arkansas second-prize winners as "Arizona". I have corrected the information here and on USA Mega, but they are really getting ridiculous with mis-identifying the Arkansas prizes.
played $5.00 won $3.00
not bad!!!
wow i liked the updated values, didn't know it surpassed the 233m record, to 240m,
cash value is real jackpot anyway, so this wil always be the world record jackpot atm to me, and we got to play it :D
very happy added states in total 41 states of mm setted a new record , it just goes to show, when the jackpot Does get high, added players make it fly
i already keep my tickets for each new year, incase i get taxed on any major winnings reported to irs aka claimed at lotto hq , then at lest get my losing money back that year as a tax write off to winnings rofl
but i think i keep these tickets to a new record is set for a keep sake LOL,
going by how rare these jackpots are, it may be 2 to 3 years before we see a other one reach near record levels again
thro i hope,the start of 2011 was just warmup for jackpots for coming our way this year rofl
What?
Please tell me how 1 store could be in 2 states??
What are you guys talking about?
Because a HUGE number of Americans are geographically challenged and assume that the postal codes of AR=Arizona, AK=Arkansas, when it's AR-Arkansas, AK-Alaska, AZ-Arizona & AL-Alabama.....
I only got 2 numbers right.
The sales in NJ and NY alone were ridiculous.. I spent $10 total; $8 of my picks and $2 qp's. I was in line and 5 people in front of me were throwing at least $50 or higher in qp's!! But also let this be a lesson learned for the lottery commission. DO NOT combine these games (PB and MM) or get rid of one for another, etc. as the sales alone for this game were absolutely ridiculous. The lottery made an absolute killing off of this even with 2 jackpot winners.. Its the only jackpot I can remember recently that was rolling to new heights without a f'in drawing!!!
where did u see that scary chick
i gt 5of5 yes baby.... but wanted the jackpot what a boner kill
ThatScaryChick, she's a member on here from Idaho.
Glad I only spent $5 on this drawing, though I did see there was a 5/5 winner in my town. At least it came from the store across from where I buy my tickets (on occasion) so it's not like I missed out on getting them as one of my QPs.
Thanks for clearing that up ttech. I think everyone knows of a " scary chick".
Just so it is not a couple of potato heads saying "I don't know what to do with all of that money" ..................
Has everyone seen the youtube video of the "Lost" episode (ABC TV) where the numbers drawn in the lottery were 4-8-15-16-23 + 4? Unbelievable! Lot of people won 150.00 playing those last night!
It's title Lost - Hurley wins the lottery....hope this was okay to post Todd!!!
Not unless they are a couple of potato heads!!! I read a article saying the tickets was sold 125 miles apart!!!!!
Check my post in this thread of a news story. It has the Lost clip in it.
https://www.lotterypost.com/news/225706/1905181
Thanks Todd! Signed on the last page!
If one store was near the border, like the city of Opportunity, one person from that city could have bought a winning ticket. Then, someone from Idaho, driving to work in Spokane could have stopped at the same store and also bought a winning ticket. Just an example.
Congrats to the winners, but good things come to those who wait so...... I'll grab the next big jackpot. LOL
In your scenario Washington would have sold two winning tickets. We only know the states where the winning tickets were purchased (Idaho and Washington), not where the winners actually live.
"the sales alone for this game were absolutely ridiculous"
Yep.......that's why its called MegaMillions!
(I like your post btw).....
And I also noticed on the Powerball website that they have a tab for MM...I do not recall that being on the original site.
Seems like they are making an attempt to support cross-selling (because for a while MM and PB seemed to be in competition with each other)..........Could this be the set-up for these games to become one?
And one more thing.....I buy my tix in advance and was back east doing this MM madness....I did not check the website or watch the news but overheard that the jackpot was high (just did not know how much)....
It was fun to come on this site and "re-live" the excitement and anticipation that was reflected in many of the postings.
With that said, I hope all who are experiencing "buyers remorse"......will NOT stay under that too long....
You know what you can and can not afford.....the $$ are spent, now then let it go.
It was great to dream and think about the possibilities of winning this......but remember, the $ may be gone, but the possibility of winning remains.
It can happen.........and this jackpot will grow again....
Be Blessed and Happy New Year!!!
( It's already off to a great, exciting start!)
After my numbers didn't come up I knew it wouldn't roll....After all Yolanda Vega from NY was there...and the Next Drawing was to be in NYC! That usually means the jackpot run is OVER! Oh well...I guess I will have to wait a little bit longer for my $500 Million!
According to Lotto Report sales were $229,421,186.
That seems low to me.
Hi JWB......
I like to look at it this way........
After reading the articles on this site, I see that on Dec 31st the jackpot was $242m and no one won....
Then it rolled to 290M........then 330M.....then 335m.......and landed at $380M....that's a jump of $138 million between drawings..........
I don't think that has ever happened......
In fact the last time MM had a huge jump like that was before the cross-selling began inwhich (on its own) MM jump $75m from one drawing to the next ( I can't remember which jackpot is was but I do remember being suprised at the amount that it jumped).
I say this was a preeeeetty good run...........
Congrats to the winners!! Hopefully they claim their prize and run away!! :)
Must be money in potatoes, Idaho has the most millionaires of any state, per capita.
Now they've got at least one more!
Congratulations to the two winners!. That Hurley tape blew me away.Where were you Hurley when I needed you !. I bought $11.00 worth of Mega numbers and didn't win a thing. Oh,well next time,I'm going to win it.
http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000906015/nancy_pelosi_facelift11_xlarge.jpeg
I saw at one point, they were selling 240,000 tickets per minute, and around 9,000 people played the "Lost" numbers.
I was debating if nobody won tonight or Friday, taking a road trip to Orange, Texas, to buy a bunch of tickets.
Hopefully Powerball will start to climb high again.
That's why I would never try and tackle the PowerBall or Mega-Millions there too dang hard!!! and quick-picks don't make it any easier
I can't see why anyone would have buyers remorse. This was the most fun MM has been in quite a while.
I spent $30, won $0. Great entertainment value. Cheaper than dinner and a movie. Thank you MM! (I'm easily entertained, lol)
Congrats to both winners, may they carefully choose legal and financial assistance... educate themselves and listen to advice.
I spent $37 and played my 2 favorite set of numbers lol, maybe next time when this powerball jackpot sky rocket!! I will be in VA lurking!!!
Hey,
I'm from DC and I feel the same as you. Washington State always win the powerball/mega millions. It would beso nice for it two come to US Capitol for a change. As you said, Good luck everyone! Well, I say the same to you & everyone in the DC area
I spent $200 and all I win back is $10. This is clearly is a sign that the lottery is a bull. Now I learned my lesson. There's better thing to do with money than throwing it away.
How do you think the jackpot rises so quickly?
Not trying to make light of your loss, but seriously, the odds are very good that you will lose all or most of your wager when playing any lottery game. That's what makes lottery winners so special and unique.
nice shot , Todd
but this is a prime exsample of the pet theory that some people subscribe to and need to quit