>Isn't it that you pay close to 50% in taxes?
>
>>One possibility is that there was another winning ticket.
>>
>>Another possibility is that the winning amount is described as the total amount of a series of payments (usually over 20-30 years depending on the particular lottery). You have an option on getting either the annuity or cash value.

Hadn't thought of that, but you may be right. Now that I think about it, they do have to pay taxes on lottery winnings, don't they.