We have a winner! The second largest winning ticket, in Mega Millions history, was bought in the great state of Illinois. The numbers that made the lone winner $1.28 billion richer were 13 36 45 57 67 and the golden Mega Ball number 14!

The $1.537 billion prize won in South Carolina on October 23, 2018, is the largest Mega Millions prize won in the game’s history!

The winner has the option of getting a cash payout totaling $747.2 million. The winner also has the option of getting the payments distributed out over a 30 year time period.

Either way, there’s still this fella and lady, Uncle Sam and Aunti Em, who will be getting their cut each year. Aunti Em is the state. Yup, the government sees your winning the lottery as your income. Sooo…yeah, Uncle Sam and Aunti Em have to get their piece of your pizza pie!

The bright spot for the winner is that he or she doesn’t have to tell anyone who he or she is. And the winner doesn’t have to reveal his or her identity because Illinois doesn’t require lottery winners to tell anybody that they have won the lottery. Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, and South Dakota are the other states that do not require lottery winners to come forward and claim their prizes publicly. The less people know about your money, the richer you remain.

Congrats to the lucky winner from Illinois! Don’t tell anyone that you won!

The next Mega Millions drawing will be on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, at 11PM ET. The jackpot is $20 million and the cash option will be $11.6 million.

Remember, you can’t win if you don’t play. So keep at it! Good luck!

Toodles!