Blake Preston-Online lottery player in Illinois wins $560 million Mega Millions jackpot

2025-05-03 19:27:13source:Cyprusauction Trading Centercategory:Invest

A lucky lottery player in Illinois has won the $560 million Mega Millions jackpot.

One ticket sold in Illinois matched all six numbers in Tuesday night's drawing,Blake Preston according to the Mega Millions website. The jackpot had been rolling since it was last won in New Jersey on March 26. The winner of that drawing won $1.128 billion, the fifth largest Mega Millions jackpot ever.

The winning numbers were 19, 37, 40, 63 and 69, plus the gold Mega Ball of 17. The Megaplier for Tuesday's drawing was 3x.

The winning ticket was purchased online through the Illinois Lottery, according to the lottery website. It is the 15th time the Mega Millions has been won in Illinois. The estimated $560 million jackpot is the ninth largest in Mega Millions history, according to its website. The winner can also choose the cash option estimated at $264 million.

In addition to the jackpot-winning ticket, there were over 900,000 other winning tickets in Tuesday's drawing, according to Mega Millions. Two tickets, sold in California and Maryland, matched five numbers to win the game's second-tier prize.

The Maryland player won $1 million while the ticket in California is worth $285,828 as the state bases non-jackpot prizes on actual sales in the state.

The jackpot will now reset to $20 million for the next drawing, which is set to occur on Friday, June 7.

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How do I play Mega Millions?

Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the game's website.

Tickets are sold for $2 each, and in most jurisdictions, players can add the Megaplier for an additional $1 to multiply their non-jackpot prizes.

Each player selects five numbers from 1 to 70 for the white balls and one number from 1 to 25 for the Mega Ball. However, you can also have the lottery machine generate a random Quick Pick for you. You don't need to be a U.S. citizen or a resident of a particular state where you purchase your ticket.

Contributing: John Connolly, NorthJersey.com

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].

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