Pair will split $355m Mega Millions jackpot
Wednesday January 5th 2011Last night’s Mega Millions lottery jackpot of $355million will be split between two lucky ticket holders. Lottery officials have confirmed that the winning tickets were bought in Washington state and Idaho. The jackpot for last night’s draw had rolled over twice a week since November 12, and ended up as one of the largest prize funds in US lottery history.
The huge amount of cash on offer caused lottery fever to sweep across the States, with large numbers of people heading out to buy lottery tickets.
Organisers increased their estimate of the jackpot to $330million following “brisk” sales on Monday, and then raised it again to $355million nearer to the draw. Mega Millions officials were even forced to shut down part of their website due to unprecedented visitor levels.
No details have yet come to light about the two players who managed to pick all five main numbers, 4, 8, 15, 25 and 47, along with the Mega Ball 42. Winning $177.5million overnight is likely to take some getting used to.
Following yesterday’s game, the Mega Millions lottery jackpot has now been reset and will stand at $12million for Friday night’s draw.