Big Mega Millions and Powerball Jackpot Wins Net Players $1 Billion
Monday January 8th 2018Two lucky lottery players shared $1 billion this weekend as both the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots fell in consecutive days. Friday’s $450 million Mega Millions top prize went to a Florida player, with a New Hampshire Powerball ticket holder pocketing $559.7 million 24 hours later.
Powerball Jackpot Winner
The New Hampshire Powerball winner matched the winning line 12, 29, 30, 33 and 61 with Powerball 26 on a ticket bought at Reeds Ferry Market on Daniel Webster Highway in Merrimack, situated between Concord and Boston.
The win ranks as the biggest in New Hampshire Lottery history and the third largest single-ticket Powerball prize of all time. It came as a result of 20 rollovers since a Louisiana family picked up $191.1 million on October 25th 2017.
There were more than 4 million winners in the Powerball draw on Saturday January 6th and you can find a full list of payouts in the Numbers section.
Mega Millions Jackpot Winner
Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot winner will collect the fourth largest prize ever paid out on the game, but they need to contact Florida Lottery officials within 180 days of the draw.
They played the winning line 28, 30, 39, 59 and 70 plus Mega Ball 10 at a 7-Eleven in Port Richey, north west of Tampa, to become the game’s first jackpot winner since a series of changes were made to Mega Millions in October 2017.
There were nearly 3 million prize winners in Friday’s drawing, including six $1 million Match 5 successes and two Match 5 with Megaplier awards of $3 million. Take a look at the full prize breakdown at the Mega Millions Results page.
Cash vs Annuity
Once the jackpot winners come forward to claim their prizes, they must both decide whether to take the full sum in 30 payments over 29 years, referred to as an annuity, or to accept a reduced cash payment.
For both Powerball and Mega Millions, the cash option represents the funds available in the jackpot pool at the time of the draw. The annuity jackpot value is a calculation of how much the lottery can grow the cash sum by investing it over 29 years.
If the Mega Millions winner opts to take the cash, they will receive $281.2 million, and the Powerball lump sum option stands at approximately $352 million. Take a look at this news article about the difference between cash and annuity jackpots to find out more about the pros and cons of both.
How to Claim Powerball and Mega Millions Prizes
The method of claiming Powerball and Mega Millions prizes depends on the value of the prize and the state in which you played. In general, you can pick up prizes of less than $600 at authorized retailers and mid-sized awards at regional lottery centers. This weekend’s huge jackpot winners will have to contact Florida and New Hampshire Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee and Concord, respectively.
Once the winning tickets are validated, the winners must attend meetings to complete all the necessary admin before they can be paid their multimillion-dollar prizes.
Next Jackpots
Both lotteries’ jackpots have now reverted to their bases of $40 million ahead of the midweek drawings. You can buy Mega Millions and Powerball tickets at authorized retailers across the participating states, or you can choose your numbers online now.
The advantages of playing online include the fact that you are not limited by store opening times, you can enter the draw wherever you are and you can never lose or damage an online entry. Good luck!
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