US News
On Tuesday night, a Mega Millions player in Illinois hit the jackpot, winning a whopping $560 million – ending a dry spell of over three months. The lucky numbers were 19, 37, 40, 63, 69, with the Mega ball being 17, making it the ninth-largest jackpot in Mega Millions’ history.
The fortunate winner, who remains unidentified, bought their ticket online via the state’s lottery website. They now have the option to claim the full $560 million or receive a one-time cash payment of $264.0 million.
Notably, this jackpot win marked the first time a winning ticket was sold online for Mega Millions. Illinois has only seen 14 jackpot wins in the history of the game, while New York leads with 43 wins.
Winners of prizes over $250,000 in Illinois can choose to keep their names and locations confidential. Additionally, two other ticketholders from California and Maryland matched all five white balls, winning $1 million each.
It’s worth noting that the last time an Illinois player won the Mega Millions grand prize was back in July 2022. With odds of 1 in 302,575,350, Mega Millions remains a challenging yet rewarding game for those who dare to play.
Vocabulary List:
- Jackpot (noun): A large cash prize in a game or lotteryespecially one that accumulates until it is won.
- Whopping (adjective): Remarkably large in sizeamountor degree.
- Unidentified (adjective): Not identified or recognized.
- Confidential (adjective): Intended to be kept secret.
- Odds (noun): The probability that something will happenor how likely it is that a particular outcome will occur.
- Ticketholders (noun): A person who holds a ticketespecially for a gameeventor public transportation.
