10 American Lottery Wins in the United States
The lottery fever seizes the whole world each and every time the American lottery displays peak 9 digits jackpots. Whether it is about Mega Millions or Powerball, the heat is on the moment their prizes go over the $200 million threshold. People from all the corners of the world rush in to lottery kiosks to get their tickets or play lotto online on theLotter, and dream of what they would do in case they were to cash in such a huge amount of money. Then, the numbers are drawn and all the world is looking forward to see who the lucky winner is.
So, who were the lucky of the luckiest so far? Here are the top 10 American lottery wins in the United States:
1. Mega Millions – $656 million – March 2012
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The record Mega Millions pinned in the lottery world’s history book last year is still standing on its leading position as the largest jackpot ever distributed not only in America, but in the entire world. Many lotto fans certainly remember the frenzy of March 2012 when the jackpot was growing and growing, and seemed it would never stop.
When this mega jackpot was finally won, the US lottery’s officials discovered it would be split by three ticket owners. All of them eventually came forwards, claiming their share of the prize – $218.6 million. The Kansas Mega Millions fan was first and he decided to remain anonymous. Then the three winners from Maryland came forward – The Three Amigos – three school teacherswho bought the ticket together and shared the win, cashing in $34.99 million each. The last ones to appear were the Butlers – a couple of pensioners for Red Bud, Illinois.
2. Mega Millions – $636 million – December 2013
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The spirits haven’t gone quiet yet! The recently ended Mega Millions rollover streak made quite a sensation. After 22 outings that stretched of a period of 11 weeks, the 2nd largest lotto prize of the world was eventually won! December 17th Mega Millions draw made 2 jackpot winners – one from San Jose, California and one from Atlanta, Georgia.
3. Powerball – $590.5 million – May 2013
image via www.floridatrend.com
Gloria MacKenzie is the lucky American who laid hands on the biggest prize in Powerball’s history. Although this jackpot failed to exceed the level reached by Mega Millions on March 30, 2012, it is a personal record for the US Powerball lottery, and the largest prize won on a single world ticket.
4. Powerball – $587.5 million – November 2012
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Two American couples split this astronomical Powerball prize. Mathew Good, Arizona, tried initially to remain anonymous, but his plans were spoiled by the U.S. tax authorities. A Fountain Hill resident, Mr. Good declared for the press that he would continue to work and establish a charity. The owners of the second winning ticket – Mark and Cindy Hill, a couple from Missouri, got $293 million richer on November 28th2012. They had four children and lived on one salary before winning the fabulous Powerball prize.
5. Powerball – $448 million – August 2013
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This summer Powerball was displaying one of its top prizes – $448 million, won on three tickets on August 7th. The US Powerball lotto numbers 5, 25, 30, 58, 59 and Powerball 32 made a group of 16 mechanics from New Jersey very happy. As they played the lottery together, they cashed in a share of $3.8 million each.
6. Powerball – $425 million – February 2014
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A lucky retiree from Northern California cashed in an enormous Powerball jackpot as the quick pick ticket he bought while having lunch at Subway featured the winning numbers 1, 17, 35, 49, 54 and Powerball 34 of the February 19th draw. B. Raymond Buxton kept his win a secret for almost a month and a half, and eventually came forward on April Fools’ Day.
7. Mega Millions – $414 million – March 2014
image via www.lolwot.com
Two lucky fans of the lottery that delivered the world’s record jackpot cashed in half of this amazing prize on March 18th 2014. The couple from Florida (Raymond Moyer and Robyn Collier, both 35) were the first ones to come forward and claim their share. The other half was claimed weeks later by a lucky Marylander who preferred to remain anonymous.
8. Powerball – $400 million – September 2013
image via 3wv.com
The American lottery Powerball had a very busy year, distributing top jackpots from January till December. In the month of September, Powerball had another peak: its top prize reached the amazing heights of $400 million. The lucky winner was a ticket holder from South Carolina, who decided not to reveal his identity.
9. Mega Millions – $390 million – March 2007
image via www.thelotter.com
As Powerball was making the headlines this year, Mega Millions kept quiet. But this does not mean that Powerball succeeded to throw America’s largest lottery game out of the tops. Here it is with a mega jackpot it displayed back in 2007. The $390 million prize was split among two ticket owners: Elaine and Harold Messner from Woodbine, New Jersey and Eddie Nabors from Dalton, Georgia.
10. Mega Millions – $380 million – January 2011
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Another, more recent benchmark by Mega Millions – the $380 million jackpot was won on two tickets, whose owners were heralding from Washington (Jim and Carolyn McCullar) and Idaho (Holly Lahti). The McCullars believed in their faith as lottery winners and the numbers 4, 8, 15, 25, 47 and Mega Ball 42 eventually proved them right.
