One lucky lottery player has won the $1.05 billion jackpot following Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing, but the winner wasn’t in Georgia.
The winning numbers in the hefty drawing — which only occurred for the third time ever — were 4, 26, 42, 50, 60 with a Mega Ball of 24. It is the second-largest prize in the game’s history.
The drawing, which is $776.6 million in cash, comes after a single ticket sold in Maryland matched all six numbers in Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing, leading the lucky earner to hit the jackpot on the fourth-largest prize in the game’s history.
Those winning numbers were 40, 53, 60, 68, 69 with Powerball 22 and Power Play multiplier 3X.
That drawing came just over 17 weeks after the jackpot run launched in September. It was the 36th drawing and the Maryland-based win topped off a record-setting run — it had been the longest jackpot period since Powerball launched in April 1992.
While a Georgian didn’t win the big prize in either lottery, two Peach State residents did win the $1 million Match 5 prize, Powerball said in a press release.
The two jackpots mark the first time in almost two years since the games gave players a chance to win prizes as ginormous as these. It’s also only the second time each prize has grown to more than $500 million, the Associated Press reported.
Despite the current Powerball and Mega Millions prizes being among the top 15 biggest prizes in U.S. history, they still don’t quite compare to the No. 1 biggest offering. That came in 2016 when couples from Florida, Tennessee and California won the $1.6 billion Powerball, according to CNBC. They had the option to collect their pretax shares of $533 million as an annuity or a lump-sum payment of $327.8 million.
All lottery winners have the option to choose either a lump sum or an annuity.
There are pros and cons to each.
According to SmartAsset, taking a lump sum and give you the chance to use the money instantly, however you like. Yet it will be less than the jackpot because it is subject to income taxes. Additionally, if you don’t manage it correctly, the cash well could run dry.
With an annuity, you’ll typically have a larger amount than the lump sum and some payments may be taxed at a lower rate. But you’ll have less financial flexibility and you could die before collecting all your winnings.
Still, it’s more likely that you won’t get the chance to sort through these options.
You have a one in 292.2 million chance of winning the Powerball and a one in 302.5 million chance to win the Mega Millions, the AP reported.
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