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Tag: lotto winners

  • Mega Millions Jackpot Skyrockets to $636M, the Odds are Slim

    Tonight is the night of one of the largest drawings in U.S. lottery history.  The Mega Millions Jackpot is now more than half a million, with 75 million tickets already sold.

    The chances of a winner have been said to now be even slimmer and recently there hasn’t been any winners yet, especially since Mega Millions lottery officials have changed the rules.

    Ticket sales have also increased and will continue to increase this evening.

    According to a CBS News report “ Odds of winning the jackpot used to be 1 in 176 million. This past October, those odds changed to 1 in 259 million. Players used to have to pick six numbers from 1 to 56, but now it’s 1 to 75. “

     

    Tuesday’s drawing will be the fourth largest compared to its predecessors like the $656M Mega Millions in March 2012.

    Yesterday, the cash prize was a at $586 million.

    Executive director of the Virginia Lottery and lead director for Mega Millions, Paula Otto, predicts the jackpot could very well break the $656M record and reach $1 billion by Christmas.

    Due to late lottery purchases, Otto believes that her team would have to reassess the sales before tonight’s drawing and this will guarantee a growth in numbers.

    “Lotto players are procrastinators. They tend to buy on the day of the draw,” she said.

    Although it seems as though  the chance of winning isn’t on everyone’s side, some lottery players still see some hope in playing.

    “I’m playing!” said Facebook user Artist Daniel. “I normally never play but when that much money is out there, why not take a chance?”

    So, what would do with your money if you won? Hopefully something rewarding.

     Image via Youtube, FOX10 News-WALA

  • Powerball Jackpot Winning Ticket is Out There, Somewhere

    As the Powerball Jackpot hit nearly $600 million this weekend, a jackpot winner has finally been found. An unidentified winner from Florida matched numbers in Saturday’s draw.

    According to the Florida Lottery, a jackpot-winning Powerball ticket was sold in Publix grocery store in Zephyrhills, Florida, a city Northeast of Tampa. The ticket was a “Quick Pick” and is worth $590.5 million. The ticket matched all five winning numbers (10, 13, 14, 22, 52) and the “Powerball,” which was 11.

    “This is Florida’s sixth Powerball jackpot winner, adding to our record of the most Powerball winners of any state since the game was introduced in Florida in January 2009,” said Cynthia O’Connell, Florida Lottery Secretary. “It is also a big win for public education. This series of POWERBALL jackpot rollovers generated more than $40 million for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund.”

    The winner, who has not yet come forward, will now have 180 days from Saturday to claim the prize money. To claim the prize money as a lump sum, the winner must file a claim within 60 days.

  • $4.8M Lotto Winner Found in Cookie Jar

    $4.8M Lotto Winner Found in Cookie Jar

    An Illinois man this week is all smiles after finding a winning lottery ticket stashed away in an old cookie jar.

    According to the Illinois Lottery, Ricardo Cerezo had some old lottery tickets sitting in a cookie jar and decided to look through them. When he scanned them at a convenience store, he found out he had won $4,850,000. The quick pick ticket was for the February 2 Illinois Lottery drawing.

    Cerezo was in disbelief, saying that he couldn’t believe that much money was sitting on his kitchen counter for months. He stated his intentions to pay off his mortgage, give money to his church, and give money to charity.

    “It is very important to us that we use this money to help others,” said Cerezo.

    This happy turn of events contrasts with recent troubles Cerezo and his family have faced. According to a report from an NBC news station in Chicago, Cerezo and his wife had last year made the decision to take their 14-year-old daughter off of life support. The girl, named Savannah, died as a result of seizures. The Cerezos had also fallen behind on their mortgage payments and were facing foreclosure before the cookie jar lotto ticket solved their money problems.

    (Image courtesy the Illinois Lottery)

  • Lotto Mistake: $14M Won on Accidental Ticket Purchase

    A woman who won $14 million in the California Lottery this week claims that she hadn’t meant to purchase the ticket.

    Thuan Le, a single mother of four, told lottery officials last week that she normally purchases $4 of Powerball tickets and $1 of SuperLotto Plus tickets on a regular basis. On May 1, however, Le accidentally put $6 into the self-serve lottery machine at her local CVS store. With the extra dollar she purchased an extra SuperLotto Plus ticket, which ended up being worth $14 million.

    Le reportedly ran screaming from the store when she verified her ticket numbers had won. She immediately called her sons and traveled to the California Lotto’s local district office to claim her $14 million prize. Le has stated that she plans to use the money to buy a house, travel, and visit her parents, who live in Vietnam.

    “We thought she was joking, but we thought would she really joke like this?” said one of Le’s sons. “My older brother said, ‘yes, she would’.”

  • Woman Wins $40M, Not $40K From Canadian Lotto

    A Canadian woman this week was overwhelmed this week after learning she had won money in the Ontario lottery.

    According to a report from Chicago’s ABC 7, 51-year-old Maria Carreiro of Toronto had originally thought she had won only $40,000. When her daughter informed her that she had, in fact, won $40,000,000 she “ran down the street like a crazy woman.”

    Though $40,000 is quite a windfall, $40 million is a life-changing amount of money. While accepting her gigantic cardboard check this week, Carreiro danced a jig for the cameras and began singing thanks to her god. The woman related to onlookers that she will be going to Hawaii, as she has never gotten a honeymoon in her 30 years of marriage.

    Carreiro reportedly played the same lottery numbers, based on her children’s birthdays, for 20 years. On this occasion, though, she had taken a “quik-pick” ticket.

  • Mega Millions Winners: Teachers Say They’ll Keep Working

    The lotto game Mega Millions has seen a lot of press lately, mostly because of the outrageously high jackpots but partly because of the lack of winners to come forward. The idea that almost half a billion dollars was going untouched was enough to throw the nation into a frenzy.

    But when the numbers were announced for last month’s drawing, a special education teacher, an elementary teacher, and a school administrator realized they had the winning tickets–which were bought in a pool–and decided to keep working despite their spoils.

    The friends, who wish to remain anonymous, have each worked multiple jobs to make ends meet in the recent economy slump but don’t want to let a sudden windfall affect the children who are in their care every day.

    “I can’t give up on my kids,” one of the winners said.

    The $656 million jackpot was split between three winning tickets scattered across the country; aside from Maryland, a winner was also announced in Kansas and Illinois. No one has come forward to claim their share in the latter state.

    The friends, who call themselves “The Three Amigos”, remain humble about their winnings–about $35 million each–and say the ticket is a prayer answered for unpaid bills.

    (image)@KyleDyer9News
    Kyle Dyer    SOO FABULOUS the winners of MD. Mega Millions Jackpot are teachers! http://t.co/4B40bHy0 http://t.co/koz6u5Gu(image) 2 hours ago via Facebook ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@LandauDC
    Simon Landau    After reading this story, these Mega Millions Winners genuinely make me smile via @wusa9 http://t.co/MF0ic8NQ(image) 1 hour ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@yum_raviOLI
    Oli Raq    Shout out to the REAL and CLASSY Maryland mega millions winners. Love their story.(image) 1 minute ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto