Mega Millions Won in the Bronx
Posted on August 29, 2009
One lucky New Yorker just became $166.5 million richer.
The numbers for the Mega Millions $333 million jackpot were drawn Friday night, and two winning tickets had been purchased — one in the Bronx and the other in San Gabriel, Calif., according to lottery officials.
The face value of each ticket is an estimated $166.5 million, marking the largest payout for any winner in New York state.
The winning numbers are 1-17-31-37-54, and the Mega Ball is 31. Officials said the winning ticket from the Bronx was purchased at Fordham Convenience and Grocery Store on 38 West Fordham Road. The California ticket was purchased at Kim Ky Noodle House on 1108 South San Gabriel Blvd.
The jackpot began at $12 million in July and ballooned to $333 million after 14 draws with no one hitting all six numbers. Officials raised the jackpot from $325 million last week, the second-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history, after a spike in ticket sales.
The largest was a 2007 drawing for $390 million — the richest lottery payoff in United States history — split by two winners, one in Georgia and the other in New Jersey.
New York is no stranger to large payoffs. In 2004, a Manhattan convenience store sold a winning $149 million ticket. More recently, Aubrey Boyce, a Queens resident and M.T.A. worker, won the last Mega Millions jackpot, worth $133 million, in July. Mr. Boyce, who stepped forward three weeks after the drawing, had elected to take a lump-sum payment, which brought his total prize to $54.6 million after taxes.
On Saturday morning, the Mega Millions’ Web site was slow to load, overrun with people eager to check their numbers, Jennifer Givner, a spokeswoman for Mega Millions, guessed.
Winners have one year to step forward and collect their payout. The New York winner elected to take the annual payout, instead of a lump sum, officials said. (The California winner has 60 days from the time he claims the winning to decide how to collect the millions.)
Annuity payments are distributed over a 26-year-period. For every $1 million in the jackpot, winners receive about $38,500 a year before taxes, according to the Mega Millions Web site. In this case, the winner would annually earn $6,410,250 — before taxes, of course.
Mega Millions is played in 12 states, making it the nation’s largest multi-state jackpot game. The odds of winning the jackpot are approximately one in 176 million.
Related Posts
- TIGER TRYING TO HOLD IT TOGETHER
- Philly’s Karen Rogers is a Mega Weather Babe
- Kevin Skinner Is America’s Got Talent 2009 Winner
- Ashlee and Pete Make Bronx King For a Day in Disneyland
- Hollywood’s Recession Is Over, Declares Murdoch
