$128m Kentucky Lottery Winner Still a Mystery - 12-30-09

December 30 - The question of who is Kentucky's latest lottery multi-millionaire is doing the rounds in the southern U.S. state after a lucky Mega Millions ticket holder scooped the whopping $128.6 million jackpot from a draw last week, but has still not come forward to claim his or her fortune.

The Mega Millions jackpot, which is the biggest in Kentucky lottery history, has lottery fans and news organizations scratching their heads in wonder as the winner has still not revealed themself. The winning ticket was purchased at Pro Travel Marathon in Georgetown, Kentucky on Christmas Eve.

And while the lucky Mega Millions ticket holder is still a mystery, at least Jack Zakir, owner of Pro Travel Marathon which sells lottery tickets, can enjoy a belated Christmas present in the form of a check for $89,000 that he will receive as the retailer that sold the winning Mega Millions lotto ticket.

Said an ecstatic Zakir, 'The economy was bad, the gas went up so high, dipped so fast, we lost a lot of money. We owe money to a lot of companies. So it could not have been better timed.' Zakir told reporters that due to the poor economy, his lottery ticket sales have risen by about 40 percent.

Ironically, the winning ticket may well leave egg on the face of Kentucky governor, Steve Beshear. Beshear is a staunch opponent of online gambling, and has put a lot of time and energy into a campaign designed to discourage Kentucky's citizens from partaking in any form of online gambling activities.

Unfortunately for the governor, being a multi-state lottery, the only way people can buy Mega Million tickets is at retailers which use lottery machines that connect over the internet, essentially making the lottery an 'online gambling activity'. Plus the state stands to earn millions in taxes from the windfall.

Many of the Governor's critics are asking if he will accept the taxes levied on the winning lottery ticket or refuse them on principle, considering they came as a result of wagering online. But for now, most people are just curious as to who will cash in the life-changing winning Mega Millions lottery ticket.