Largest payout for a single winning ticket in game's history
Update, 12:29 pm: It was a quick pick, plus additional store info where winning ticket was sold.
By Todd Northrop
NEW YORK — A New York lottery official said a winning ticket for the Mega Millions lottery jackpot worth $319 million has been sold at a variety store in Albany, N.Y.
New York Lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Hapeman said the winning jackpot ticket for Friday's drawing was sold at Coulson's News Center, located just a few blocks from the state Capitol.
Hapeman says final sales numbers raised the annuity value of the prize to $319 million, with a cash value of $202.9 million.
The jackpot is the fifth-largest in the game's history, and the ninth-largest lottery jackpot of all time for any game. The biggest jackpot was a Mega Millions jackpot worth $390 million in March 2007.
It ranks as the largest jackpot for a single winning ticket in the game's history, eclipsing the $315 million prize sold in California in November 2005.
The winning ticket was a quick pick selection — random numbers generated by the lottery terminal in the store.
Hapeman says the earliest the winner can claim the prize is Monday, because lottery offices are closed for the weekend.
The winning numbers in Friday's drawing were: 22-24-31-52-54, with a Mega Ball number of 4. The Megaplier was 4.
Employees at Coulson's News Center are bursting with pride, even though they don't know who the winner is yet. They won't get official notification from state lottery officials until Monday, when they indicate what day and time the ticket was sold, clerk Steve Gallucci said.
Gallucci, who clocks 60 hours a week, said there's a good chance he sold the winning ticket.
"I'm happy about it," he said. "I hope whoever wins it uses it in a good way. I gave away a couple of Quick Picks — who knows, maybe I gave away $300 million."
Coulson's is a shop that has been selling newspapers, magazines, sodas and snacks from their Albany's business district storefront for more than 70 years.
"We cater to the business people who work in the offices around here, so we see them every day," said Gallucci, 53, who has worked there since 1974. "They've been coming all week, playing the slips."
Hapeman says the holder of the winning jackpot ticket has the option of taking prize over 25 years or as a cash payout.
In addition to the jackpot winner, 32 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $250,000 prize: 5 from California, 1 from Colorado, 1 from Indiana, 2 from Kentucky, 1 from Maryland, 1 from Massachusetts, 1 from Michigan, 4 from New York, 2 from North Carolina, 4 from Ohio, 1 from Oregon, 2 from Pennsylvania, 1 from South Carolina, 3 from Texas, 2 from Washington, and 1 from West Virginia.
The 5 California winners will each be awarded prizes of $287,323 because California awards all prizes in a pari-mutuel formula, which calculates the prize amount based on the number of tickets sold and the number of winners in each prize category.
Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time
After all the proceeds were counted, Friday's Mega Millions jackpot stood as the 9th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States.
- Mega Millions: $390 million, Mar. 6, 2007
- Mega Millions: $380 million, Jan. 5 2011
- Powerball: $365 million, Feb. 18, 2006
- The Big Game: $363 million, May 9, 2000
- Powerball: $340 million, Oct. 19, 2005
- Mega Millions: $336 million, Aug. 28, 2009
- The Big Game: $331 million, Apr. 16, 2002
- Mega Millions: $330 million, Aug. 31, 2007
- Mega Millions: $319 million, Mar. 25, 2011
- Mega Millions: $315 million, Nov. 15, 2005
- Powerball: $314.9 million, Dec. 26, 2002
- Powerball: $314.3 million, Aug. 25, 2007
- Powerball: $295.7 million, Jul. 29, 1998
- Powerball: $295 million, Aug. 25, 2001
- Mega Millions: $294 million, Jul. 2, 2004
- Powerball: $276.3 million, Mar. 15, 2008
- Mega Millions: $275 million, Feb. 22, 2008
- Mega Millions: $270 million, Feb. 28, 2006
- Mega Millions: $266 million, May 4, 2010
- Mega Millions: $265 million, Apr. 18, 2006
- Powerball: $261.6 million, Jun. 2, 2010
- Powerball: $261.3 million, Jul. 9, 2003
- Powerball: $259.9 million, Aug. 19, 2009
- Powerball: $258.5 million, Apr. 21, 2010
- Mega Millions: $258 million, Sep. 16, 2005
Now comes the ultimate question: Was it a Quick Pick?
To the lucky winner of the Mega for 03/25/11 CONGRATULATIONS it is about time it was someone locally.
Nice to have someone in Albany win it.
Ut oh.
Rdgrnr, you better se up a defensive perimeter and out out the claymores.
New York always take my money!!! Maybe i can win tonights powerball!!!
i'm sure it was ....it always is a QP , well, 9 out of 10 times anyway ........lucky bugger lol
Cha Ching.....quite a payday. Wish it had been me. But I do wish the big winner health and happiness with their fortune.
whoever congratulations.......................
hopeful its just 1 winner and not some lottery group,
with 35% max fed rate and almust 9% added rate of new york state tax , if they take the cash, atfer Max taxes of 43.97% overall its: 113,740,900 cash wired to their bank account
makes the 203 Cash million jackpot look not much, atfer the evil govt gets their greedy hands on their "fair" share, its not fair, its high way robbery
biggest single cash payout ever atfer taxes i would say,
also state of new york, just scored over 18 million in mm money
bloody s even got a few cents form ever player, f you new york , that should be the winners money :P
what shall this lucky beep spend it on, who knows, but it should keep them busy buying things LOL
DO NOT LET MATH FOOL YOU.Someone always win, that is a fact.TOO BAD IT WASN'T YOU OR ME.I AM FEELING SO CRAZY AFTER LOSING SO MUCH.ONE SINGLE LINE QUICK PICK WON THE WHOLE THING.It does not matter how much the person or group played.They had THE SINGLE LINE QUICK PICK THAT WON IT ALL.
I BET THAT YOU HAVE SOME JOKE ABOUT THIS.
I think me () and you () should be a team and share the Jackpot if you win.
Whataya think?
Not really a fan of lottery clubs, too many cooks spoil the stew. Hope it was a individual who won it. Congrats to the winner(s) though!
Won $14 last night..........Let's go Powerball!!
Being in Albany, maybe it's a pool with Governor Cuomo and a bunch of his rich, fat-cat friends.
I got a feeling the filthy-rich Senator Schumer and the multi-millionaire Clintons and the billionaire Mayor Bloomberg are in on it too.
Just a hunch.
Power to the People!
yeah, yeah....congrads to the winner ...blah blah blah....i'm S I C K of new york winning -!!!
Tell me all you want about how "theres more players there"....BOO-LONY!!!
Somethings very suspicious here...
...not buying lotto anymore unless i find myself in NY to buy the ticket.
I'm now in detox, as I am always after the hype and excitement of the run up to a huge jackpot. However, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!! to whomever the winner is. May they enjoy every ounce of goodwill, wisdom, peace and luxury that I dreamed for me and my family.