The Mega Millions Jackpot Soars to $1.25 Billion, Unfortunate Winners Receive Complimentary Krispy Kreme Donuts
The Mega Millions jackpot eluded players once again, as Tuesday marked its 30th consecutive draw with no winner who matched all six numbers. The five white balls drawn on Tuesday were 8-24-30-45-61 and the gold Mega Ball was 12. Although more than 4.9 million tickets won some kind of prize, no one managed to beat the odds of 1 in 302.5 million to take home the jackpot.
Tuesday's Mega Millions jackpot was a whopping $1.1 billion, which is the advertised prize that comes with a 30-year annuity payout. The cash sum, on the other hand, was $550.2 million.
As there was no jackpot winner, the prize rolled over for the 31st time. Mega Millions officials estimate the jackpot to be around $1.25 billion for the Friday, August 4th drawing. The cash value is calculated to be roughly $625.3 million.
A sense of anticipation surrounds the country when Mega Millions jackpots soar, according to Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin, who also happens to be the lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium. Corbin expressed her gratitude to players and retailers for their continued support and urged them to play responsibly.
Tuesday night wasn't entirely lost for Mega Millions players, as seven lucky winners landed on the second-tier prize of $1 million by correctly matching all five white balls but not the gold Mega Ball. With odds of roughly 1 in 12.6 million, this is a life-changing outcome for these victors.
One of the lucky winners took the Megaplier option, an additional $1 add-on play available in most participating states that increases the prize up to five times its original value. With Tuesday's Megaplier standing at 4x, the Texas resident who won $1 million thanks to this option walked away with an even bigger payout of $4 million.
While Texas doesn't tax lottery winnings, the federal government does. Thus, the $4 million jackpot will be reduced to approximately $2.52 million after the government deducts its 37% cut, which is the highest tax bracket for individuals earning $578,126 or more in a year, or $693,751 for couples filing jointly.
There were also 135 tickets that matched four white balls and the gold Mega Ball, snagging the third-tier prize of $10,000. The chances of getting four white balls and the Mega Ball are approximately 1 in 931,000.
Mega Millions officials said that 28 of these $10,000 winners had added the Megaplier, which boosted their winnings to $40,000.
For everyone else, Krispy Kreme has announced they'll be giving away a free donut to anyone who presents a losing Mega Millions ticket from Tuesday night's draw. This offer is only valid for today, August 2nd, and only one free donut is permitted per customer, regardless of the number of losing tickets.
Friday's Mega Millions jackpot of an estimated $1.25 billion is the fourth-largest in Mega Millions history. The interstate lottery game has been played for over 27 years, but only three times has a larger jackpot been up for grabs.
If the jackpot doesn't hit on Friday, Mega Millions will inch closer to having surpassed its all-time richest prize of $1.537 billion. This record-breaking jackpot was claimed anonymously in South Carolina back in early March 2019.
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Source: www.casino.org
