Lottery ticket-holders in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland each selected the winning numbers for the world record-breaking $640 million Mega Millions jackpot, lottery officials said Saturday.
Friday's Winning Numbers: 2-4-23-38-46, Mega Number 23
Each winning ticket was expected to be worth more than $213 million before taxes.
But California wasn't completely left out. Twenty-nine Golden State residents matched five numbers.
@CALottery tweeted at 9:11 p.m. Friday night "OK, here are early results. No jackpot winners in California, BUT 29 tickets matched 5 numbers!!! Check your tickets!!! #MEGAMillions."
The 29 Luckiest Spots in the State
Of those 29, tickets worth $227,955 each were sold at the 7-Eleven at 617 Blossom Hill Road in San Jose, Liquor Tobacco and More on 1283 South Mary Avenue in Sunnyvale, Al's Food & Liquor at 36 Medway Road in San Rafael, Fast & Easy Mart on 34759 Ardenwood Boulevard in Fremont and Fox Liquors at 570 Larkin Street in San Francisco, acording to the California Lottery website.
Illinois’ winning ticket was sold in the small town of Red Bud, near St. Louis. The Maryland Lottery said it sold a winning ticket at a 7-11 just outside Baltimore. Lottery officials said the ticket was purchsed at 7:15 p.m. by a customer who came in, waited in a long line and then purchased one single quick-pick. Although we know how and when the ticket was purchased, the Maryland winner is still a mystery.
A winning ticket also was purchased in northeast Kansas, according to the Kansas Lottery website. A spokeswoman didn’t immediately return a message Saturday morning.
Local
So, what could you buy with $640 million? You could get 8,000 of your closest friends a souped-up Cadillac Escalade. See this slideshow for more crazy ideas.
If no one picked all six MEGA Million lottery numbers, Tuesday's jackpot would have been $975 million, according to Lottery officials.
The previous record jackpot was $390 million back in 2007. That money was split by two winners in New Jersey and Georgia.
Assuming 350 million tickets were sold in this Mega Millions drawing, there was about a 90 percent chance of at least two jackpot winners Friday.
If you bought one $1 ticket, your odds of winning the Mega Millions Jackpot on Friday were estimated at one in 175.7 million, according to Dr. Ken Alexander, a mathematics professor at USC.
But that hasn't stopped hundreds of thousands of people from snatching up lotto tickets this week.
If you bought 50 tickets, your chances of winning the jackpot were comparable to your odds of being struck by lightning.
Some Bay Area radio DJ's won a slice of the Mega Millions on Wednesday.
Based on U.S. averages, you are about 8,000 times more likely to be murdered than win the lottery and 20,000 times more likely to die in a car crash.
If you have the winning numbers, you have anywhere from 180 days to a year to claim your prize, depending which state you are in.
See the Mega Millions website for more information.
