On Thursday, December 26, 2024, Rob, on the right, purchases a Mega Millions ticket at Rossi’s Deli in San Francisco.AP’s Jeff Chiu
After drawing the winning number, at least one Mega Millions player has enough of money to celebrate the start of the new year. According to the Mega Millions website, a ticket valued at an estimated $1.22 billion was sold in California for the drawing on Friday night, following three months in which no one had won the lottery’s top prize.
The winning ticket was sold at Circle K (Sunshine Food and Gas) on Rhonda Road in Cottonwood, which is approximately 150 miles south of Ashland on Interstate 5, according to the California Lottery. The winning ticket matched the gold Mega Ball 6 and the white balls 3, 7, 37, 49, and 55. It was not immediately clear who the winner or winners were.
Only the winner who choose an annuity payout over 29 years will receive the full Mega Millions prize. Almost all grand prize winners choose to accept their cash payoff, which is expected to be $549.7 million for Friday night’s drawing.
As the sum of the big prize increased, participants kept buying tickets even though the game had long odds of 1 in 302.6 million. Up until Friday, September 10 was the last time a Mega Millions player had won the top prize.
In August 2023, a ticket worth $1.6 billion was sold in Florida, the highest Mega Millions jackpot ticket ever. There have been two higher rewards for its country’s Powerball lottery.
Forty-five states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands sell Mega Millions and Powerball. Puerto Rico also sells Powerball.
In April, Mega Millions tickets will cost $5 instead of $2. Officials claim that the rise is just one of several adjustments that will lead to better jackpot odds, more frequent gigantic prizes, and even bigger payments.
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