A ticket with all six numbers in Tuesday evening’s multi- state Mega Millions lottery draw was sold in Illinois and the player has the option of receiving $560 million, the ninth-largest jackpot in the history of the game, in 30 graduated annual installments or a lump sum cash payment of $264 million before federal taxes.
There were two tickets sold with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, including one sold at liquor store in West Covina, which is worth $285,828, according to the California Lottery.
While tickets with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, sold in other states are worth $1 million or a multiple of $1 million, California law requires major payoffs of lottery games to be paid on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning they are determined by sales and the number of winners.
A ticket with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, sold in Maryland is worth $1 million, lottery officials said.
The numbers drawn Tuesday were 19, 37, 40, 63, 69 and the Mega number was 17. It was the 20th drawing since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold on March 26.
The odds of matching all five numbers and the Mega number are 1 in 302,575,350, according to the California Lottery. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24.
The Mega Millions game began in 1996 as The Big Game and was given the new name Mega Millions in 2002.
The Mega Millions game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands.
The jackpot for Friday’s drawing will be $20 million.
–City News Service