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Eva Nuno of Las Vegas picks Mega Millions lottery numbers outside the Primm Valley Lotto Store across the state line at Primm Thursday, March 29, 2012.
Friday, March 30, 2012 | 10:32 p.m.
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At least one winning ticket was announced in Maryland about two hours after the drawing for the largest jackpot in Mega Millions history — a whopping $640 million.
Maryland lottery officials announced early Saturday their state sold a winning ticket, but it wasn't immediately clear if that ticket holder would get sole possession of the $640 million jackpot or have to split it with other winners.
The numbers pulled Friday in the Mega Millions lottery were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 and Mega Ball No. 23.
Carole Everett, director of communications for the Maryland Lottery, said the winning Mega Millions ticket was purchased at a retailer in Baltimore County.
Ticket sales at the Primm Valley Lotto Store on the Nevada-California boarder closed around 7:45 p.m. Thousands of Las Vegans ventured to Primm and stood in four-hour-long lines to purchase $1 tickets.
The lottery has rolled 18 times without having a jackpot winner, according to the Mega Millions website. The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 176 million.
No one hit it big on March 27 when the jackpot was at $363 million, upping the Friday night jackpot to the all-time high of $640 million.
According to the Mega Millions website, the winning ticket holder can claim the total amount in 26 annual installments or a one-time cash option of $462 million before taxes.
Depending on the state the ticket was purchased in, the time period for claiming a prize ranges from 180 days to one year from the draw date, according to the Mega Millions website.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
I can only hope it's not one single person but a group of people who pooled money.
I agree with you, Tom. There usually is one ticket attached to a group of people when the amount gets so high...because what would one person do with all that money? It would be more of a curse than a good thing.
I find it odd that the actually winning number, that "Mega Ball #" is also one of the other numbers, too. SInce I never buy these stupid tickets, I don't anything other than all the numbers have to match.
Well, folks, it was real and it was fun, but it wasn't real fun chatting with you.
I always kinda wondered what the payoff would be for leaving my farm and friends in Nevada for the Baltimore/Annapolis area; now I realize how incredibly lucky I have been.
Never question the motives of that little voice nside you, whispering notions and sometimes numbers...
tata
Wow, that would fund a couple hundred start-ups, set up a well endowed foundation... and still have enough left to live comfortably!
Update: Winning tickets were also in Illinois and Kansas. Here in Illinois, there were twelve second place winners with a win of $250,000 each. One ticket had a multiplier so that prize bumps up to $1,000,000.
Alas, I didn't even come close. I had 2 of the winning numbers which equals to spending your money playing Keno. Glad I only spent $1.00!!
Look at the bright side...
You'll never have to 'suffer' like the multitude of other big winners who've found winning the Lotto to be too much to handle.
"Go back to your mundane lives! Nothing more to be seen here! Dream Time is OVER! No more calls, PLEASE...we have a winner!"
@Airweare, If what you are implying is true, Congratulations! You are one of my favorite commentators, so don't become a stranger.
@DetMunch
You did it the right way...only $1.00. Worth the shot. I take issue with a lot of these people who spent huge sums buying tickets. Most, probably can't afford to do it in the first place and secondly the odds are so remote it doesn't warrant more than $1.00 or $2.00.
just joshing ya,but
The_Next_Opinion.
But I'll keep you in mind just in case I find a pile of doubloons in a shipreck or a mess of diamonds in a bottle. We didn't even buy a ticket, and as the saying goes, ya can't win if ya don't play. I like gmag's down-to-Earth comment too. Get too much and ya go nuts. We're better off poor and pleasant than rich and rude.