Mega Millions Winner From Illinois Bags Lottery's Jackpot Prize | Here's How Much the Player Can Take Home

The Mega Millions jackpot has been bagged by a player from Illinois, winning $1.337 billion, as confirmed by the Mega Millions in a press release a day after Friday's draw.

The winning lucky numbers are 13, 36, 45, 57, 67, and a mega ball of 14. The said numbers reportedly matched a single ticket in from Illinois.

"Congratulations to the Illinois Lottery for selling the winning ticket for the $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot... We're eager to find out who won and look forward to congratulating the winner soon," Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald said.

The identity of the player who won the Mega Millions Jackpot prize was still unclear as of Sunday. However, CNBC reported that the lucky ticket was sold at a Speedway gas station in Des Plaines, Illinois. The said area is located 17 miles northwest of Chicago.

Illinois' Department of Lottery director, Harold Mayes, said at a news conference on Saturday that the winner has yet to claim the prize.

"We don't know whether or not they even know that they won a prize," encouraging payers to check their tickets.

However, New York Post reported that the identity of the Illinois player who won the Mega Million Jackpot prize cannot be known by the public, thanks to a law in the states that allow lotto winners to be anonymous.

Other states, including Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and Montana, offer the same options for lotto winners to stay anonymous.

How Much Will the Illinois Winner Take Home After the Mega Millions Win?

The Jackpot prize won by the Illinois player was $1.337 billion. If the winner decides to get the prize in cash, a total of $780.5 million will be awarded. However, taxes will still cut the cash payout.

A federal mandatory tax withholding will lessen the prize by 24%. Furthermore, Illinois also considers the winnings a taxable income at a 4.95% rate. With the taxes, the mega Millions winner can expect a take-home amount of $554.5 million.

The late jackpot prize winning marks the third-highest lottery prize in American history.

Other Mega Million Winners

The player from Illinois was not the only player who won a magnificent prize after Friday's draw.

The lottery said that 26 tickets matched the five white balls and won the game's second-tier prize. Six of the tickets included the optional mega pier, which was 2x on Friday. The winner won $2 million each.

Three hundred seventy-five tickets also bagged the third tier prize. Sixty-eight of them won the optional megaplier, making them bag $20,000, while the remaining 307 won a $10,000 prize.

Mega Lotto also reported that there were 14,391,740 winning tickets sold across all nine prize tiers in the July 29 draw.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

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