Florida ticket wins $450m Mega Millions jackpot

FLORIDA TICKET WINS $450M MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT

It’s taken just five days for the first big lottery win of 2018 to take place. One lucky ticket sold in Florida, USA, has won a massive $450m Mega Millions jackpot in the Friday January 5 draw.Last year saw changes made to the Mega Millions draw and organisers promised they would result in larger jackpots. That’s certainly been the case, as the jackpot has kept rolling over in recent months with 23 rollovers before this $450m top prize win in Friday’s draw.The second Mega Millions of the year finally produced a jackpot winner. A ticket purchased at a 7-Eleven in Port Richey in Florida scooped the $450m top prize and the retailer will receive a bonus of $100,000 for selling it. The ticket was able to successfully match 28-30-39-59-70 and the Mega Ball 10.No ticket holder has come forward to claim their massive jackpot win but under Florida lottery law the winner cannot remain anonymous, with the winner’s name and the city/town in which they live being made public.Whoever has won the Mega Millions jackpot will have the option of receiving their prize as an annuity over 29 years or a one-off cash sum of $281m. The winner may want to go to $14m Mega Millions jackpot winner Chris Mani from New Jersey for some advice on how to cope with their winnings.The win is the fourth-largest jackpot in the 15-year history of the Mega Millions draw and the 10th largest in US lottery history. It’s not going to stay 10th for long though, with the Powerball jackpot up to an estimated $570 for the January 6 draw.Last year saw some big winners with Patricia Busking from Paco Heights in Illinois, USA, winning a $393m Mega Millions jackpot in the August 11 draw. 2016 saw Michael Burkett from Washington, USA, scooping a $157m Mega Millions top prize.It’s believed more than 21 million tickets were sold for Friday’s Mega Millions draw. Eight tickets were able to match the five main balls to become lottery millionaires. Those tickets were sold in California, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia and two each in both Texas and Oklahoma.Hopefully the winner will be happier with their windfall than Fay Blake from Florida, who was upset over her $5m Mega Millions windfall.The next Mega Millions draw takes place on Tuesday January 9 with the jackpot returning to $40m. Get a chance of becoming next winner and purchase your tickets online at Lottery24.com.