SACRAMENTO – It’s definitely one of the wildest dreams…what to do with a $250 million jackpot! The largest jackpot ever available to California State Lottery players hit the $250 million mark when no one matched the MEGA Millions numbers 13, 24, 44, 48, 52, MEGA Number 30 on Tuesday night. The $250 million jackpot shatters all records for any jackpot offered in the California State Lottery’s 20 year history. California dreaming reached a whole new level as players entertain how they would spend that cash!
No player within the twelve MEGA Millions states selected the winning combination of numbers; however thousands of Californians did win prizes: 2 players won more than $830,000 matching 5 numbers without the MEGA Number, and 9 players won more than $100,000 matching 4 numbers plus the MEGA Number. “A total of 151,341 tickets won prizes ranging from two dollars to $415,630”, said Norma Minas, Public Information Officer for the California State Lottery. “Two winning second prize tickets were sold worth $415,630 each. One of the second prize tickets was sold in northern California in Placerville and the other from Santee in the southern part of the state”.
A lucky player who wins $250 million, would receive equal payments of approximately $9.6 million a year (before taxes) for the next 26 years, or players could opt for the cash option that would result in an estimated prize higher than $150 million before taxes. A retailer who sells a winning ticket worth $250 million would receive a bonus of $1 million (the maximum bonus available) for selling the winning ticket.
To purchase your MEGA Millions ticket for Friday’s draw go to any of the more than 18,000 Lottery retailers in California by 7:45 p.m. Are you having trouble deciding which lotto game to play? Try a “California Combo”, the fun option that gives players 5 MEGA Millions plays and 5 SuperLOTTO Plus® plays with a single purchase!