Two winning US lottery tickets split win totalling over half a billion dollars

Two winners will split the $656million price for Mega Millions draw; America’s second largest jackpot in history.

17:06 18 December 2013

With a combined jackpot of $636m split between just two winners, lottery officials confirmed that one ticket was sold at Jennifer’s Gift Shop in San Jose, California while the other one was sold in Atlanta, Georgia.

The winning numbers were 8, 14, 17, 20 and 39, with a Megaball of 7. Prior to the draw, long queues were reported prompting lottery officials to increase their prediction following strong ticket sales. The previous estimate was $585million.

The $636million jackpot is the second largest jackpot in the history of US’s lottery.
The current American jackpot record is $656million, which was split between three winners in 2012.

Even though the chances of winning is one in 259 million, hundreds of hopefuls formed line at petrol stations and convenience stores in the 43 US states that participate in the draw. One of them was Nesha Isahak who told Reuters: "I feel it. I believe. It's Christmas. It's time for believing and I know I'm going to win it.”

Meanwhile, 39-year-old Tanyan Joosten from Milwaukee said: "I think there's absolutely no way I am going to win this lottery. But it's hard for such a small amount of money to not take the chance."