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The United States awoke this Saturday with a new billionaire.
After more than 40 consecutive drawings without a winner, a single ticket sold in the state of Georgia matched the complete combination of Mega Millions and won an estimated jackpot of 980 million dollars, the eighth largest in the game's history.
According to the authorities of the lottery, the winning ticket contained the numbers 1, 8, 11, 12, 57, and the golden Mega Ball 7, a combination that ended a streak that had been ongoing since June, which was already one of the longest periods without a winner.
The weight of expectations was enormous: the jackpot had grown rapidly due to the recent reform implemented in April, which increased the ticket price to five dollars, altered the odds, and raised the initial amount of the grand prize to 50 million.
The lucky winner will now have up to 180 days to come forward and claim their prize.
You can choose to receive $452.2 million in cash all at once, before taxes, or an annual payment distributed in 30 installments over 29 years, with a 5% increase each year, according to the Mega Millions annuity model.
This structure, which also exists in other games like Powerball, is designed to provide long-term stability and maximize the total value received.
The odds of correctly guessing all six numbers and winning the jackpot are 1 in 290 million, a figure that illustrates the magnitude of the stroke of luck that occurred in Georgia.
Even so, in each draw, thousands of smaller prizes are awarded, ranging from two dollars to six-figure amounts if you have the multiplier.
On Friday, for example, a ticket sold in Michigan won three million by matching the five white numbers plus the 3X multiplier. Additionally, 22 other players won $20,000 each by matching four numbers and the Mega Ball.
This new award is also notable for being the largest one given since the rules of the game were updated this year.
Before Friday's draw, the last large jackpot won had been in March 2024, when a lucky winner in New Jersey took home 1.128 billion dollars. And in August 2023, Mega Millions awarded the largest prize in its history: 1.602 billion, with a single ticket sold in Florida.
Mega Millions, which began in 1996 under the name "The Big Game," has evolved into one of the largest lotteries in the United States, with a presence in 45 states, Washington D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The draws take place twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, and it is not necessary to be a U.S. citizen or resident to play; you only need to be of legal age in the state where the ticket is purchased.
In the draw on November 14, which recorded this historic prize, there were over 800,000 winners of smaller rewards.
For many players, the appeal of Mega Millions lies in its simple system: choosing five numbers from 1 to 70 and one Mega Ball from 1 to 25. And for those who are undecided, there is the "quick pick" option, which generates the numbers randomly.
Although the $980 million jackpot is not among the largest in all the lotteries in the country—Powerball has awarded prizes close to $1.8 billion—it is still a significant milestone within Mega Millions and marks the end of a streak that will be remembered for its length and the size of the total.
While hundreds of thousands of players check their tickets hoping to at least recoup their two dollars, somewhere in Georgia, an unidentified person has overnight become the owner of a monumental fortune.
Now you will have to decide how to collect it... and when to take the step of going public, if you decide to do so.
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