The Mystery Of The Latest Amarillo Millionaire Is Solved

With the Mega Millions jackpot set at around $740 million for tonight's drawing, there was a mystery here in Amarillo regarding a big-time Mega Millions winner.

A little over a month ago here, someone nearly hit the entire jackpot, and had they done that, we wouldn't all be chasing our tails on a monster jackpot tonight.

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Back on July 30, the Mega Millions drawing happened. No one hit the overall jackpot, but there were several people who did hit at least $1 million in the drawing. The jackpot at the time was well over $500 million.

HOW DOES MEGA MILLIONS WORK

Ok, just in case you don't know or live under a rock, six numbers are drawn. Five of them are regular numbers with the sixth number being the Mega Ball. Match all six of them and you win the advertised jackpot.

It seems like a pretty simple thing to do, except your odds of winning are approximately 1:252,000,000. I'd say those are some pretty long odds.

WHAT ARE THE PAYOUTS

There are nine different ways you can win with Mega Millions and each one comes with a different payout. They are below:

0 of 5 with Mega Ball: $2
1 of 5 with Mega Ball: $4
2 of 5 with Mega Ball: $10
3 of 5 no Mega Ball: $10
3 of 5 with Mega Ball: $200
4 of 5 no Mega Ball: $500
4 of 5 with Mega Ball: $10,000
5 of 5 no Mega Ball: $1,000,000
5 of 5 with Mega Ball: Jackpot

SO WHAT WAS THE AMARILLO MYSTERY

When it was announced that there were no winners of the jackpot on July 30, it revealed that there were several players who hit 5 of 5 with no Mega Ball, which meant they had won at least $1 million. I say at least because that amount could've multiplied had they purchased the extra multiplier on their ticket.

The Texas winner did not purchase the multiplier.

Time started to tick away, and the other newly minted millionaires had already either claimed or were in the process of claiming their prizes. That Texas winner though hadn't shown up to claim their prize.

Yesterday, September 5th, we found out that the Texas winner finally claimed their prize. It was with a ticket that was purchased at the Toot'n Totum at 5409 E. Amarillo Blvd.

The winner has decided to remain anonymous, which is always a smart move. However, now you know a place that sold a million-dollar ticket. Maybe tonight they sell you a $740 million dollar ticket.