Lottery drawing tonight for $270 million
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sure, the jackpot for Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing has grown to a whopping $270 million, but the big prize is still $120 million lower than the Georgia Lottery’s largest-ever pot.
That distinction belongs to the $390 million Mega Millions jackpot on March 6, 2007. Two tickets, sold in Dalton and in New Jersey, matched all six numbers and shared that windfall.
Eddie Nabors, a 52-year-old truck driver from the Whitfield County town of Rocky Face, won half that record pot. The single father of three, who chose to receive his winnings in a lump sum, took home about $80 million after taxes.
Friday’s jackpot, the sixth-largest in Georgia Lottery history, is worth about $10.3 million a year, before taxes, for 26 years, lottery officials said.
If a single winner chooses the cash option, he or she will instantly become a millionaire 164 times over, again before Uncle Sam gets his hand into the $164 million payout.
The Mega Millions jackpot has rolled over 14 times since the last winning ticket, for $33 million, was sold in Texas for the Jan. 1 drawing.
Mega Millions is played in Georgia, Virginia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Washington and California.
Since the game’s inception in May, 2002, there have been 77 Mega Millions jackpot winners, with eight of those winning tickets sold in Georgia.

ajc.com


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