Mega Millions surges to $820 million as questions hang over mystery Powerball winner

News

Of Dana Kennedy

July 22, 2023 | 16:52

Mega Millions lives up to its name.

If someone ends up with the grand prize-winning ticket for Tuesday̵[ads1]7;s drawing, they could get a cool $820 million.

The looming jackpot is the fifth largest in the game’s history, Mega Millions officials said Saturday.

The odds of winning are very long – 1 in 302.6 million, but tickets are snapped up.

Winners have the option of a lump sum payout, which in this case would net them $422 million, or they can choose to take the entire jackpot paid out in annuities over 29 years.

Most grand prize winners choose the cash payout option.

The drawing on Friday resulted in eight tickets matching five white balls for a $1 million prize.

Two each were sold in Florida, New Jersey and North Carolina, with one in California and another in Michigan, Mega Millions said.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands.

Questions remain about the identity of the person who got the winning Powerball ticket worth about $1.08 billion at a small neighborhood store in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The store owners initially said the winner was an elderly woman who entered the store and was caught on video indicating she had won.

Shocking the assembled crowd as well as the store workers, the woman fell to her knees and shouted “God bless you” and hugged the staff, then ran off.

However, she ran away without showing a ticket or giving her name, according to footage from KNX News.

It is still unclear if she really is the winner.

In a video clip posted on social media, the woman ran from the store crying: “I’m scared right now, I’m so scared.”

Store owner Nabor Herrera told KCAL he thought the woman was faking, but said his daughter thought the woman’s mother might be the winner.