Mega Millions jackpot jumps to $122 million

Monday, October 5, 2009

ATLANTA – Mega Millions is on a mega roll. The jackpot for tonight's drawing is an estimated $122 million to a single annuity winner. It only takes $1 for a chance to win big.

"Large jackpots are exciting for lottery players, and every Mega Millions ticket purchased in Georgia benefits HOPE and Pre-K students," said Georgia Lottery Corporation President and CEO Margaret DeFrancisco.

Mega Millions offers players two payment options: 26 annual payments in equal installments or a single check worth the cash value of the estimated jackpot. Any lucky Mega Millions player who matches all five white ball numbers, along with the Mega Ball number, could walk away with approximately $4.6 million a year (before taxes) for 26 years with the annuity option. Or a player could select the cash option and win a single check worth approximately $78 million (before taxes).

Any Georgia Lottery retailer who sells a winning Mega Millions jackpot ticket can earn the $25,000 retailer incentive bonus payment. If more than one winning jackpot ticket is sold in Georgia, the retailers selling the winning tickets will share the $25,000 retailer incentive bonus.

As with all other Georgia Lottery games, proceeds from Mega Millions will benefit education in the state of Georgia.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corporation has returned more than $11 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs including Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia's Pre-K Program. More than 1.1 million students have received HOPE, and more than 940,000 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.

For more information, please visit the Media Center on the Georgia Lottery Web site at:
www.galottery.com

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Tandi Reddick
Media Relations Manager

P 404.215.5062
F 404.215.8983
media [at] galottery [dot] org

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