Historic Mega Millions Jackpot Roll Ends With Winner in Illinois

$1.28 billion jackpot is second-largest in Mega Millions history

Mega Millions jackpot roll that lasted more than three months came to an end as one jackpot-winning ticket was sold in Illinois for the July 29 drawing. With an estimated annuity value of $1.28 billion, it was the second-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history and the third-largest overall in U.S. lottery history.

The July 29 drawing also produced six second-tier winning tickets with the Megaplier option, which doubled the prizes to $2 million. Those tickets were sold in Florida (3), Arizona, Iowa and Pennsylvania.

A total of 20 second-tier winning tickets worth $1 million each were sold in Florida (2), Georgia (2), Minnesota (2), North Carolina (2), Texas (2), California, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

In Maryland, there were more than 302,000 winning tickets sold for the July 29 drawing, with prizes ranging from $2 to $20,000. That total included eight third-tier winning tickets, one of which had the Megaplier option, which doubled the prize to $20,000. The remaining seven third-tier winning tickets are each worth $10,000. Nationally, there were more than 9.5 million winning tickets sold for the July 29 drawing.

The Mega Millions jackpot roll began after a jackpot was won on April 15 in Tennessee. In more than three months since then, Maryland had a $1 million winning ticket sold in Rising Sun and 33 third-tier winners worth at least $10,000 each.