Mega Millions jackpot: Illinois person gets lucky, wins $1.34 billion

Someone from Des Plaines, Illinois, just won the $1.34 billion Mega Millions jackpot, which is the second-largest in Mega Millions’ history and the nation’s third-largest lottery prize. The winning numbers were: 13-36-45-57-67, Mega Ball: 14. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302.5 million. The jackpot grew so large as no one had matched the game’s six selected numbers since mid-April, which means 29 consecutive draws without a jackpot winner.

The ticket that won the lottery was purchased at a Speedway gas station in Des Plaines, which is about a 20-mile drive northwest ofdowntown Chicago.

“We have not heard from the winner yet. We don’t know whether … they even know that they won a prize. So I encourage everybody to check your ticket,” Illinois Lottery Director Harold Mays told reporters Saturday morning in Chicago.

The Speedway store get a cash bonus of $500,000 for selling the ticket that won the lottery. 

“Congratulations to the Illinois Lottery for selling the winning ticket,” Pat McDonald, Ohio Lottery director and current lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a news release.

“We are thrilled to have witnessed one of the biggest jackpot wins in Mega Millions history. We’re eager to find out who won and look forward to congratulating the winner soon!”

Meanwhile, a total of 26 tickets won $1 million prizes on Friday. The lottery winners were located in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin. 

Mega Millions, which is is coordinated by state lotteries, is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.