Florida Had FIVE Big Winners in Mega Millions Friday Night

There WAS a winner last night with that big billion dollar Mega Miliions lottery jackpot. But the biggest winner wasn't from Florida. The newest Mega Millions billionaire bought their ticket somewhere in Illinois. That winner will have the choice of receiving 30 annual installments or as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $747.2 million.

However, Florida definitely has the most millionaires after last night's drawing. There were FIVE lucky $1 million or more winners. No other state even came close. Florida had 2 "Match 5" winners who will win $1 Million. There were three Match 5 winners who added the Megaplier which doubles the win to $2 Million. There's no word yet on where in Florida those tickets were purchased, but we should find out soon which of the 13,000 Lottery retailers across the state sold the winners.

Florida won in other ways. According to the Florida Lottery website, this series of Mega Miliions jackpot rollovers has generated more than $49.5 million for education in Florida. Since joining Mega Miliions in 2013, the game has generated more than $817.9 million for education and has awarded more than $806.2 million in prizes to 64 million players. The winning numbers drawn last night (July 29, 2022) for Mega Millions were: 13, 36, 45, 57, 67 and the Mega Ball was 14.

Florida lottery players have claimed two enormous jackpots since joining in the game back in 2013. Here are 10 tidbits about the big money winners.

Do you play your lucky numbers or do you let the machine pick? Both winners used the QuickPick option.

Shane Missler of Port Richey was only 20 years old when we became Florida's biggest lottery winner ever. He said he wasn't surprised with the win. He just had "a feeling." He first told his brother and then delivered the news to his father over coffee the next morning.

Both big Florida Mega Millions winners were big football fans. Shane Missler used his winnings to see his favorite team the New England Patriots play in the Super Bowl. Raymond Moyer and Robyn Collier said they planned to spend their winnings to go to as many Notre Dame games as they could.

Since the grocery chain sells so many lottery tickets, many conspiracy theorists think there's a bias and a disproportionate number of winners that come from Publix. Neither of the 2 big winning tickets were purchased with a Pub Sub.

Raymond Moyer and Robyn Collier of Merritt Island had to share their winnings as a Maryland player also picked the winning numbers. Taking the lump sum payment and having to share the money meant the $414 million jackpot turned into a mere $115,448,968 win for them. We're pretty sure they weren't too disappointed. Florida Today reported Collier had less than $5 cash when she filed for bankruptcy two years before the win.

Only two Florida Mega Millions players have been mega winners but 64 million have won smaller prizes from $2 to $2,000,000, totaling just over $806 million.

You can take home more money by opting to receive annual payments of your winnings. But both big jackpot winners opted to just cash in and take a lump sum payment. The Port Richey winner took a $281,874,999 check.

Both big money winners bought their tickets at gas stations. One was a 7-Eleven in Port Richey. The other was at a Sunoco on Merritt Island near Melbourne.

Although no Florida lottery players have won a billion dollars, the state's education system is getting close. Since Florida joined Mega Millions in 2013, the game has generated almost $818 million for education.

If you plan on becoming Florida's next millionaire, know a few things. First, you only have 60 days to claim your prize if you want to cash out right away. You have 180 days if you're going to take the annual payments.  And after 90 days, your name becomes public.