Ticket Purchased in Illinois Wins Second-Largest Mega Millions Jackpot of Nearly $1.34 Billion

A single ticket bought in a Chicago suburb beat the odds and won a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot, the second-largest in the lottery's history.

A single ticket bought in a Chicago suburb beat the odds and won a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot
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Photo by John Smith/VIEWpress

A single ticket bought in a Chicago suburb beat the odds and won a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot

The second-largest Mega Millions jackpot in history took place Friday night, with the winning ticket bought at a Speedway gas station and convenience store in Des Plaines, Illinois, a 20-mile drive northwest of downtown Chicago.

CNN reports a single ticket sold in the Chicago suburb for the whole $1.337 billion. Friday night’s winning numbers were 13, 36, 45, 57, 67 and a Mega Ball of 14. The jackpot ranks behind the largest Mega Millions jackpot of $1.537 billion, which was won by a single ticket sold in South Carolina in 2018.

According to Fox Business, odds of winning the Mega Millions were a one in 302.5 million. “So, obviously it’s a shock, but I’m happy that somebody from Illinois was able to win it,” an employee at the Speedway gas station where the winning ticket was sold told the outlet. 

I asked this Chicago resident Andrew Tart what he would do if he won the $1.28 BILLION Mega Millions jackpot. He gave maybe the best answer I've heard yet. @IsaCNN pic.twitter.com/REA0wxFu1n

— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) July 29, 2022

“We are thrilled to have witnessed one of the biggest jackpot wins in Mega Millions history,” Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald, the current Lead Director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement on Mega Millions’ website. “We’re eager to find out who won and look forward to congratulating the winner soon!”

Illinois Lottery Director Harold Mays told reporters on Saturday that the winner has not yet come forward.

“We have not heard from the winner yet,” he shared. “We don’t know whether…they even know that they won a prize. So I encourage everybody to check your ticket.”

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