Community Corner
Two $250K Winning Lottery Tickets Bought in Evanston
A single convenience store on Howard Street sold both tickets.
When the Mega Millions lottery numbers were drawn last Friday, some lucky person who purchased two tickets in an Evanston store was likely jumping for joy.
Two lottery tickets purchased at United Food Mart, 331 W. Howard St., matched all five white balls from the drawing, making each ticket a second place winner, instantaneously worth $250,000 apiece.
Though it is unknown whether the two tickets were actually purchased by a single person, the odds of winning a second place prize are about 1 in 4 million, making it highly improbably that two people bought winning tickets from the same store for the same drawing.
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Whoever bought the winning tickets has one year to come forward and claim the prize. United Food Mart will receive 1 percent of the winnings, equal to $5,000.
Though 39 tickets across the country also became second place winners in the multi-state lottery after Friday’s drawing (five in Illinois), no ticket guessed all six balls correctly, making it over two months since Mega Millions had a jackpot winner.
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Wednesday’s Mega Millions jackpot carried a $363 million grand prize, the third highest in the contest's history. Each ticket has a about 1 in 176 million chance of winning.
Friday's winning numbers were 6, 17, 19, 20, 21 and the Mega Ball was 20.
Wednesday's winning numbers were 9, 19, 34, 44, 51 and the Mega Ball was 24.
