American lottery jackpot winner bought ticket in Illinois

Someone beat the odds and won the US Mega Millions lottery jackpot of $1.28 billion. According to megamillions.com, there was one winning ticket in the drawing on Friday night, which was purchased by someone in Illinois.

The winning numbers were: 13-36-45-57-67, Megaball: 14.

The amount of money accumulated was the third largest in the history of lotteries in the country and the largest in almost four years.

The prize was so high because, in the last 29 consecutive drawings held since April 15, none of the tickets sold had all six winning numbers. The latest winner was a player in Tennessee.

The prize of 1,280 million dollars is for the winners who choose the option to receive it in 30 annual payments over 29 years, but almost all opt for the option of a single cash payment, which for this draw had an estimated amount of 747.2 million.

The odds of winning the jackpot were one in 302.5 million.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states plus Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands, and is coordinated by state lotteries.

Across the country, state lottery systems use the proceeds to boost education, tourism, transportation, and more.

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