A Mega Millions player in Georgia won the $980 million jackpot on Friday, overcoming abysmal odds to win the huge prize. The numbers selected were 1, 8, 11, 12, and 57, with the gold Mega Ball turning up as a 7, reports the AP. The winner overcame Mega Millions' astronomical odds of 1 in 290.5 million by matching all six numbers. The next drawing will be on Tuesday. A winner can choose an annuity or the cash option—a one-time, lump-sum payment of $452.2 million before taxes. If there are multiple jackpot winners, the prize is shared.
There were four Mega Millions jackpot wins earlier this year, but Friday's drawing was the 40th since the last win on June 27, a game record, officials said. In September, two Powerball players in Missouri and Texas won a nearly $1.8 billion jackpot, one of the largest in the US. The current Mega Millions jackpot isn't among the top 10 US lottery jackpots, but it would be the eighth-largest for Mega Millions since the game began in 2002.
Mega Millions offers lesser prizes in addition to the jackpot. The odds of winning any of these is 1 in 23. There were more than 800,000 winners of non-jackpot prizes from the Nov. 11 drawing. Tickets are $5 each and are sold in 45 states, DC, and the US Virgin Islands. Half the proceeds from each Mega Millions ticket remains in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Local lottery agencies run the game in each jurisdiction, and how profits are spent is dictated by law.
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