A buyer performs Mega Millions lottery on the Downtown Miami Souvenirs retailer on December 26, 2024 in Miami, Florida.
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At least one Mega Millions participant has loads of dough to ring within the New Year after drawing the successful quantity. After three months with out anybody successful the highest prize within the lottery, a ticket price an estimated $1.22 billion was offered in California for the drawing Friday night time, in response to the Mega Millions web site.
The California Lottery mentioned the successful ticket was offered at Circle Okay (Sunshine Food and Gas) on Rhonda Road in Cottonwood, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Sacramento. The successful ticket matched the white balls 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and the gold Mega Ball 6. Ishar Gill, a son of the shop proprietor, mentioned the successful ticket was “a blessing” for the small rural city of roughly 6,000 folks. The id of the winner or winners was not instantly identified.
“We do not have the slightest clue of who might have gained it or who might have offered it,” Gill instructed The Associated Press. “But congratulations to the winner.”
The complete quantity of the Mega Millions jackpot would solely be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners choose to take a money payout, which for Friday night time’s drawing is an estimated $549.7 million.
Despite the sport’s lengthy odds of 1 in 302.6 million, gamers continued to buy tickets as the scale of the grand prize grew. Until Friday, the final time a Mega Millions participant hit the highest prize was Sept. 10.
The largest-ever Mega Millions jackpot ticket price $1.6 billion was offered in Florida in August 2023. Two prizes for its compatriot Powerball lottery have been bigger.
Mega Millions and Powerball are offered in 45 states, in addition to Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball is also offered in Puerto Rico.
Mega Millions ticket costs are set to rise from $2 to $5 in April. The enhance will likely be certainly one of many adjustments that officers say will lead to improved jackpot odds, extra frequent big prizes and even bigger payouts.
