A WOMAN couldn’t believe it when she secured the second biggest prize for Mega Millions after buying herself a ticket.
Anna Marquez from Bay City, Michigan, about 100 miles northwest of Detroit on Saginaw Bay, bought her lottery ticket online at MichiganLottery.com.
Luck was in her corner, as she matched five white balls for the March 5 drawing.
The numbers drawn were 2, 49, 50, 61, and 70.
She was one digit short of winning the jackpot, as she missed 14 for the mega ball.
“I play Mega Millions here and there, usually when the jackpot starts getting large,” Marquez told Michigan lotto chiefs.
MEGA MONEY
She was beside herself when she saw the massive amount of money pending in her account.
Marquez admitted she thought it might’ve been fraudulent at first.
“Honestly, I thought it was [a] scam at first because you just don’t think this type of thing will happen to you.”
After checking her email, she saw a message from lottery officials about claiming the prize and knew it was real.
Marquez visited Lottery headquarters to pick up the prize.
She plans to buy a house and pay bills while saving the rest, but she won’t get to keep the full $1 million.
TAXED CASH
Due to state and federal tax regulations, Marquez couldn’t take the whole prize to reach millionaire status.
The biggest blow came from the 24% federal income tax collected from her prize.
That immediately shaved $240,000 off her prize, but she also had to pay the state income tax.
Michigan withholds 4.25% of lottery prizes over $5,000, so she also had to fork over $42,500.
How to play Mega Millions
Mega Millions is a drawing game that started in 1996. Players try to match numbers on their tickets with numbers on randomly drawn balls. They choose five numbers between 1 and 70 for the drawn white balls, and another number between 1 and 25 for the golden “mega” ball. Mega Millions draws numbers every Tuesday and Friday.
There are several ways to win Mega Millions:
- Matching the mega ball alone wins $2.
- The mega ball plus one white ball wins $4.
- Any three balls wins $10.
- Three white balls and the mega ball wins $200.
- Four white balls wins $500.
- Four white balls and the mega ball wins $10,000.
- Five white balls wins $1 million.
- Matching all five white balls and the mega ball wins the jackpot.
This ultimately left her with $717,500, but it isn’t clear how Marquez chose to claim her prize.
She could have opted for a one-time lump sum payment, or the annuity option which pays out a prize gradually.
The lump sum option is desirable since it guarantees immediate cash but could lessen the prize total even more.
LOTTO NEWS
The Powerball is another popular draw game, and the jackpot recently reached $1.23 billion as players are urged to check tickets.
The latest Powerball drawing on Wednesday night had no winning tickets, and there have been 40 draws since the last jackpot was won.
Players buying tickets for the next Powerball drawing on Saturday will hope to win the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot in history.
Find out why a scratch-off player who won $4 million had to give up almost half immediately.
Read how much money recent Powerball winner Yanira Alvarez won.
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chase their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry, or depressed
If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling addiction, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700 or visit the National Council on Problem Gambling online.
Read our lottery live blog for the very latest news and updates…