Where was the winning Mega Millions ticket sold in Illinois? What we know
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An Illinois lottery player won a massive $552 million jackpot prize this week, but unlike some of the state's previous big prizes, there was no store listed for the winning sale.
That's because the Mega Millions ticket was purchased online.
"The lucky winner scored the massive jackpot playing the game on the lottery’s mobile app – making this the largest prize ever won by an online lottery player in the U.S.," the Illinois Lottery said in a release.
The ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night -- 19, 37, 40, 63 and 69, plus the gold Mega Ball 17, according to the Mega Millions -- meaning they earned a prize of $552 million.
The jackpot had been rolling over since the last top price of $1.128 billion was won in New Jersey on March 26.
The prize marks one of the 10 highest Mega Millions jackpots ever won, lottery officials said.
It also comes two years after another lottery ticket sold at a Speedway convenience store in Des Plaines won $1.337 billion in the Mega Millions.
The latest winner is now the fourth Illinois Lottery player to win $1 million or more in the Mega Millions so far this year, and the second iLottery player to take home over $1 million this week, lottery officials said.
The winner has one year from the date of the drawing to claim their prize.
If the winner chooses to take home the cash option, they will receive an estimated $264 million.
"The Illinois Lottery encourages all lucky winners to write their name on the back of their ticket and keep it in a safe place until they’re ready to claim their prize," the lottery stated.
Beyond the jackpot prize, 944,852 others also won prizes during Tuesday's drawing. Two tickets matched all five white balls, but not the gold Mega Ball. Those were sold in California and Maryland.
Several other $30,000 and $10,000 prizes were also won.
According to the lottery, the odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are one in 24, but the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.
The jackpot now resets for Friday's drawing, starting at $20 million.
Drawings are conducted at 10 p.m. CT on Tuesdays and Fridays.
