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The winner of a $36 million jackpot ran out of luck earlier this week after not claiming his winnings.
The eight-figure jackpot, won with a lottery ticket from a Publix in Jacksonville, Florida, expired once the midnight deadline passed Sunday without a claimant coming forward, the Florida Lottery confirmed to FOX Business.
Mega Millions and the Florida Lottery both urged people in Florida who used Publix to play the lottery to take another look at their tickets before the jackpot's expiration date.
A person plays the Mega Millions lottery at a store in San Mateo, California, on January 1, 2019. 12, 2023. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The winning ticket holder had 180 days to claim the $36 million windfall.
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The ticket associated with the now-expired jackpot became the August winner. 15, when Mega Millions drew the numbers 18, 39, 42, 57, 63 for the white balls and 7 for the mega ball.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in over 302 million.
In this illustration, Mega Millions lottery tickets are displayed on August 2018. 1, 2023, in San Anselmo, California. (Photo illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“Florida law requires that 80 percent of unclaimed prize money from expired tickets be transferred directly to the Education Enhancement Trust Fund,” the Florida Lottery told FOX Business. “The remaining 20 percent is returned to the prize pool from which future prizes can be awarded or used for special prize promotions.”
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“If a POWERBALL or MEGA MILLIONS jackpot ticket is not claimed within 180 days of the applicable drawing date, the funds necessary to pay the unclaimed jackpot will be returned to Lottery members in a proportion of their sales for the jackpot extension series,” the Lottery added. . .
This fund provides money for public schools, universities and scholarships, according to a Florida Lottery fact sheet.
Mega Millions models are stacked and awaiting players in August. November 7, 2023 in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Chip Somodevila/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The expiration of the $36 million ticket came amid the current Mega Millions jackpot approaching the half-billion mark.
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The current Mega Millions jackpot stood at $457 million on an annual basis as of Friday morning. As a one-time cash payment, it is worth $216.8 million.
Mega Million will hold its next drawing for a potential windfall late Friday evening.
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