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By Gerrard Kaonga
US News Reporter
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The largest Mega Millions jackpot in history, at $1.58 billion, was up for grabs during Tuesday night's August 8 drawing.
The lucky winning numbers were 13, 19, 20, 32 and 33, and the gold Mega Ball was 14
One person in Florida reportedly won the jackpot on Tuesday night's draw, and will celebrate the record-sized jackpot after matching all six numbers.
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The winner of the latest jackpot has the choice of taking an estimated lump sum payment of $783.3 million before taxes or going with the annuity option. That consists of an immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase in value and eventually equal the full jackpot minus taxes.
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Outside of the major jackpot win, in this lottery run there were 43.7 million winning tickets across all tiers included 69 second-tier prizes of $1 million or more, won in 28 different jurisdictions from coast to coast, according to the latest press release from Mega Millions.
"Congratulations to the Florida Lottery for selling a jackpot-winning ticket in Tuesday's $1.58 billion Mega Millions drawing," said Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium.
"We congratulate our newest jackpot winner, as well as the more than 43.7 million winners at all prize levels throughout this jackpot run. We also celebrate the funds generated for the many good causes supported by our participating lotteries," she said.
Prior to Tuesday's draw win, the largest won Mega Millions Jackpot was $1.537 billion. This occurred on October 23, 2018 and it marked the second time ever that any lottery prize passed the billion dollar mark, according to the Mega Millions website.
As there was just one winning ticket in that drawing, which was sold in South Carolina, it was the world's largest lottery prize ever won on a single ticket.
To win the jackpot, a player's ticket numbers must match all six numbers drawn—the first five numbers and the gold Mega Ball. There are other prizes if a player's numbers only match some of the numbers drawn, ranging from $2 to $1 million. The odds of winning the jackpot are slim, at a 1-in-302,575,350 chance. Odds improve for the lesser prizes.
To play the game, the players have to pick five distinct numbers between 1 and 70. The sixth number is the "Mega Ball" number which is from 1 to 25. This number is allowed to be one of the first five numbers since it is drawn from a different pool.
When playing, players can choose a "quick pick" option, in which the lottery machine randomly selects a set of numbers, or they can choose the numbers themselves.
The $1.55 billion jackpot has been rolling since it was last won in New York on April 18, according to the Mega Millions website.
In its last press release, announcing the winner of the jackpot, the organization stated that the August 8 drawing saw multiple winning tickets.
"The August 8 drawing produced far more than a jackpot win, with 7,056,452 winning tickets at all other prize levels. Seven tickets matched the five white balls to win the game's second-tier prize," the press release stated.
"Two, sold in Florida and North Carolina, are worth $2 million each, because they included the optional Megaplier (available in most states with an extra $1 purchase), which was 2X on Tuesday night," it said. "The other five Match 5 tickets win the standard second-tier prize; they were sold in California, Pennsylvania, Texas (two) and West Virginia.
"Across the country, 166 tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the third-tier prize. Twenty-eight of those tickets are worth $20,000 each, because they also included the optional Megaplier. The other 138 third-tier winning tickets are worth $10,000 each."
Tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the press release also clarified.
Tickets are sold at $2 each and drawings are conducted at 11 p.m. ET on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia.
Update 08/09/23 3:15 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further details.
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