Someone In San Jose Has Won $636M Mega Millions Jackpot
LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — A ticket with all six numbers in Tuesday night's Mega Millions draw was sold in San Jose, according to a California Lottery official.
The numbers drawn were 8, 14, 17, 20, 39 and the Mega number was 7.
The estimated jackpot was $636 million, making it the second largest jackpot in U.S. history. It trails a $656 million Mega Millions pot that was won in March 2012.
The winning ticket was reportedly sold at Jenny's Gifts & Kids Wear in San Jose.
Two other tickets, with five of the six numbers drawn, were sold in Chula Vista and San Diego.
Mega Millions changed its rules in October to help increase the jackpots by lowering the odds of winning the top prize to about 1 in 259 million, but that hasn't stopped customers from believing they could win.
"I'm going to buy some tickets here then I'm going to go to two other places in the city and try to better my odds," Highland Park resident Jose Pineda said Tuesday.
Hundreds of people in Hawthorne lined up outside Bluebird Liquor Store, which claims to have sold the most winning tickets in Southern California.
CBS2/KCAL9 reporter Adrianna Weingold spoke with one man who bought 1,000 tickets at Bluebird. His co-workers chipped in $100 to the lottery pool. The man says he was struck by lightning as a kid and feels that this time he'll be struck with luck.
Paula Otto, lead director for Mega Millions, says officials expect about 70 percent of the possible number combinations to be purchased. The cash option is $341 million, before taxes.
If a winner were to take the money in annual payments they'd rake in $477 million. If they were to claim the cash in one lump sum they'd walk away with more than $255 million. Both account for the 25 percent federal tax taken out of the jackpot.
Mega Millions is played in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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