As soon as we found out that we weren’t the winners of the $656 million jackpot, we wanted to know who was. And earlier today we learned that there were three winners — but now we’re also learning that two of those tickets were purchased in states where winners can remain anonymous. Hence, we may never know who they are. Full story below…
CNN:
A few lucky folks in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas woke up Saturday — if they slept at all — to the dawning realization that they will soon be quite rich.
Just about everyone else woke up to a less sparkling conclusion — they weren’t winners.
“Oh Mega Millions, why do you shun me?” one Twitter user mused on the social networking site.
“Dear news updates on my phone, stop rubbing it in that I didn’t win the mega millions!!!” said another.
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Lottery officials confirmed Saturday that three winners — in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas — will split Friday’s record $656 million Mega Millions jackpot. That works out to about $218.6 million each.
The winning numbers were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 with a Mega Ball of 23.
Around 7:15 p.m. Friday night, a person came to a 7-Eleven store in Baltimore, Maryland, and paid $1 for a “quick pick” of one line of numbers — which ended up exactly matching those pulled less than four hours later.
It’s not know if the identity of that person will ever be known, as Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino noted that the state does not require its jackpot recipients to do publicity, as some other states do.
Winners can also remain anonymous in Kansas, that state’s lottery director Dennis Wilson said.
Security officials know the precise location where the ticket was sold, but that information hadn’t been released — even to Wilson. The state lottery has only said the winning ticket came from somewhere in northeastern Kansas.
And the town of Red Bud, Illinois, located about 35 miles south of St. Louis, was buzzing Saturday with news that one of its own bought a ticket at a Moto Mart.
“We’re having a great time,” the store manager, Denise Metzger, told CNN affiliate WGN. “The people in town are having a good time trying to speculate who it is or hoping it’s still them. The atmosphere has just been sensational.”
While no one has yet stepped forward to claim the prize, Wilson had some advice for the winner or winners: Sign the back of the ticket. Put it someplace very safe. And talk to a lawyer before coming in for what will be a life-changing experience.
While only three tickets hit the big jackpot, at least 42 tickets matched five of six numbers — 29 in California, 12 in Illinois and one in Kansas, according to lottery officials.
California Lottery Commission spokesman Alex Traverso said the payout on those tickets will be about $125,000 to $130,000.
The Mega Millions lottery is played in 42 states plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands.
The multistate jackpot had caused long lines at convenience stores, with many dreaming of creative ways to quit their jobs if they get the lucky numbers.
Sales skyrocketed at Manhattan Tobacco, a New York convenience store, cashier Alex Shanahe said. He said the store has proved to be lucky before, having sold winning tickets of $3 million and $5 million.
“The sales have tripled. Everybody wants to win the Mega Millions,” Shanahe said before the drawing.
The odds of winning the jackpot were about one in 176 million, which means a person would have a better chance of getting struck by lightning.
Psychologist Scott Bea said if a winner is a poor money manager and has been unhappy in life before winning, that’s likely to continue.
“It solves one problem, but it creates a half-billion others,” he said. “You have about no chance at winning this, but it really gets people excited.”
