A winning ticket took the award greater Friday night for a value close to 1,337 million dollars in the lottery of USAits organizers announced this Saturday.
“Mega Millions players, check your tickets! We have a winner in Illinois. Stay tuned for more details!” Said the person in charge of the lottery of that state in the center-east of the country on her Twitter account. The winning numbers were: 13-36-45-57-67 and the “Mega Ball” was 14.
“We can’t wait to find out who won and look forward to congratulating the winner soon!” added Mega Millions official Pat McDonald in a press release.
The jackpot was initially estimated at $1.28 billion, but “the final value was higher than estimated” after real sales were computed, Mega Millions explained, according to the AFP news agency.
The 1,337 million on Friday represents what the lucky winner would get if he agreed to receive the money in 30 years.
If he opted instead to take his prize all at once, he’d get “only” $780 million — some of which would then go in taxes — according to an estimate from Mega Millions..
The jackpot for this lottery had grown steadily for over three months, as in 30 draws no one had matched all six numbersso every week more people played with the hope of becoming millionaires.
The biggest win in the history of the game was 1,586 million dollars, and it was delivered in January 2016 by the other great American lottery, the Powerball, but on that occasion the prize was divided among three winners.