Mega Millions Winning Numbers For July 8: One ‘Lucky 8’ $540 Million Winner In Indiana

There’s something special about the number eight and winning Mega Millions lottery jackpots. That’s the news coming from the Mega Millions website, in a new press release titled “Mega Millions jackpot won again on the 8th!” The article notes that the Mega Millions jackpot has finally stopped rolling over after four months, with only one winning Mega Millions ticket matching the Mega Ball and all six numbers. It is a ticket worth approximately $540 million, which was sold in Indiana.

“The Mega Millions jackpot was finally won Friday night, and for the third time this year, it was won on the 8th day of the month. A single ticket matched all six numbers drawing July 8 – 8, 19, 20, 55 and 73, plus the Mega Ball 5. The ticket, sold in Indiana, wins a prize estimated at $540 million ($381 million cash). That makes it the third largest jackpot in Mega Millions history, and it’s the most ever won on a single Mega Millions ticket.”

The Executive Director of the Virginia Lottery, Paula Otto — also Lead Director for the Mega Millions group — called the four months during which the Mega Millions jackpot kept rolling over “a great four-month run.” Paula also called the number eight “lucky,” since previous Mega Millions big jackpot winnings also happened on the eighth day of the month. The lucky moniker is usually one reserved for the number seven, but Otto changed that nickname to include the number eight.

“Lucky 8 happened again, as the Mega Millions game had its third jackpot winner of the year on July 8, following winners on January 8 and March 8.”

Ironically, the number eight showed up in the Mega Millions winning numbers drawn on July 8 — at least one eight showed up, that is. Other than that, the number five was pretty prominent.

According to some schools of thought, the number eight represents a new beginning or a fresh start. Well, at least one person in Indiana will be experiencing a fresh start in life with a whole lot more money, whenever they come forward to claim their huge Mega Millions jackpot win from the history-making Mega Millions drawing on July 8.

Other folks around the country should experience a fresh start as well. According to lottery officials, 10 winning Match 5 tickets were sold around the nation — with seven of those tickets making new lottery-derived millionaires in seven states. Three of the 10 winning Match 5 tickets belong to winners likely overjoyed that they chose the Megaplier option, which means their tickets are worth double the usual Match 5 payout winning amounts: $2 million each instead of $1 million each.

“In addition to the jackpot win Tuesday night, there were 10 Match 5 winning tickets sold around the country. Seven are worth $1 million each – sold in Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey and Oklahoma. Three included the optional Megaplier, so their tickets are worth $2 million each – sold in Colorado, Florida and Kansas.”

As seen in the above photo, a long line of hopeful Mega Millions jackpot winners formed on Friday afternoon, July 8. The location of the photo was the exterior of Bluebird Liquors in Hawthorne, California, where people took to the store to get their share of the Mega Millions jackpot prior to Friday’s drawing that evening.

The top photo above shows a man waiting to receive his Mega Millions lottery ticket at a convenience store in Chicago, on Friday, July 8.

The Mega Millions drawing from Friday night represented the third biggest in Mega Millions game history — and the largest amount ever won on a single Mega Millions winning ticket. The estimated $540 million Mega Millions jackpot was the seventh largest U.S. jackpot in history, so it’s no wonder folks lined up to get their share.

[Photo by Nam Y. Huh/AP Images]