THE COLUMBIA, S.C. According to lottery authorities, a ticket was purchased in South Carolina for the winner of the $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot,
which is short of the all-time record.
However, actual sales fell short of the $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot reward split by winners in California,
Florida, and Tennessee in January 2016.
The previous Mega Millions projection of $1.6 billion would have been a global record for lotteries.
Mega Millions winning ticket worth $1.6 billion purchased in South Carolina.
Most winners elect to accept a lump-sum cash payout of the winning ticket’s estimated value of $877.8 million
rather than receiving the whole amount in yearly instalments over a period of thirty years.
The Maryland Lottery, which is in charge of a group of state lotteries participating in the Mega Millions jackpot,
announced that “the final sum was less than the $1.6 billion projection.
In a phone conversation with The Associated Press on Wednesday morning, she said, “Estimates are based on previous patterns.
“There aren’t many examples of jackpots of this size, but the prize has been growing ever since it was struck in California in July.
Forecasting exact figures in advance can be challenging because, on drawing day, sales typically account for around 70% of all transactions.
We usually use the word estimate for this reason.”
Estimates are based on past trends, she said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday morning.
“The jackpot has been increasing ever since it was hit in California in July, which is unusual for jackpots of this size.
Because sales normally make up around 70% of all transactions on drawing day, it might be difficult to predict exact numbers in advance.
For this reason, we typically use the phrase estimate.”
The previous record-holder in South Carolina,
who purchased a $400 million Powerball ticket in the Columbia vicinity in 2013, refused to provide their name.
The shop will get a $50,000 reward, according to South Carolina Education Lottery spokesman Holli Armstrong.
By Wednesday at noon, when state officials have put law enforcement forces in place to cope with the focus,
Brown predicted that the identity of the store will be made public.
“It’s a record for Mega Millions and it came very close to breaking the world record of all the jackpots,” Gentry added.
The previous largest Mega Millions jackpot winner was a $656 million ticket purchased back in 2012.
The winning numbers were Mega Ball 5, 28, 62, 65, and 70.
The likelihood of matching all six numbers and earning the highest reward is 1 in 302.5 million, which the lucky player conquered.
Along with 44 states, Washington, D.C., and the US Virgin Islands, Mega Millions is also played there.
The time it takes for the ticket winner to present themselves and receive the reward may take days or even weeks.
Lottery authorities and financial experts advise players to plan out their investments
before spending hundreds of millions of dollars,
and winners must cope with the security issues that come with being unexpectedly extremely wealthy.
Winners have up to a year to claim their award, depending on the state.
It had been over three months since a player had successfully matched all six numbers to take home the top prize,
which is why the Mega Millions jackpot got so huge.
The most recent instance of such occurred on July 24, when 11 Californian coworkers shared a $543 million reward.
Even though the prize on Tuesday was incredibly high, it is not an exception.
It depicts a pattern of increasing lottery payouts as a result of improvements to the game that lowered
the chances with the expectation that higher jackpots would boost sales.
The first to do so was the Powerball game’s administrators,
who changed the odds of winning the jackpot from 1 in 175 million to 1 in 292.2 million in October 2015.
Following suit, Mega Millions’ odds went from 1 in 259 million to 1 in 302.5 million in October 2017.
Although the Mega Millions lottery has received the most of attention, Powerball has also been doing well.
The estimated prize for the Wednesday night Powerball annuity option is $620 million, with a cash reward of $354.3 million.
The ten biggest prizes ever won in the United States are shown here, along with the states where the winning tickets were sold.
1. Powerball drawing on January 13, 2016, $1.586 billion (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)
2. Powerball win of $758.7 million, August 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)
3. Mega Millions, March 30, 2012, $656 million (three tickets, from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland)
4. Mega Millions, December 17, 2013, $648 million (two tickets, from California and Georgia)
5. Powerball jackpot of $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 (one ticket, from Florida)
6. Powerball win of $587.50 million on November 28, 2012 (two tickets, from Arizona and Missouri)
7. Powerball drawing on February 11, 2015: $564.1 million (three tickets, from North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Texas)
8. Powerball win of $559.7 million, January 6, 2018 (one ticket, New Hampshire)
9. Mega Millions jackpot of $543 million, July 24, 2018 (one ticket, California)
10. Mega Millions draw for $536 million on July 8, 2016 (one ticket, from Indiana)