Published
2 months agoon
By
Anya EllisOn Tuesday, someone buying a Mega Millions ticket in Merced County came extremely close to winning one of the largest lottery jackpots ever in the U.S.
Still, the consolation prize for matching five numbers was a whopper — $3,383,371.
The Mega Millions lottery, which hadn’t been won since April 18, climbed to a whopping $1.56 billion, the third-largest lottery cash prize in U.S. history.
After 31 fruitless drawings, the lottery’s dry stint finally ended with a lucky Floridian’s ticket matching all six numbers in Tuesday night’s draw: 13, 19, 20, 32, 33, and the gold Mega Ball 14.
Four tickets matching five of the six numbers, valued at $3,383,371 each, were sold to four individuals across the United States. This includes a ticket bought at a 76 gas station in Hilmar.
According to the California Lottery, multiple individuals possessing tickets with five of six correct numbers didn’t affect their winnings. This is due to the people living in different states.
However, if more than one person were to win the Mega Millions, they would have to share the prize money.
For the record, the odds of winning Tuesday’s massive jackpot were 1 in 302,575,350.
Anya Ellis began working for GV Wire in July 2023. The daughter of journalists, Anya is a Fresno native and Buchanan High School graduate. She is currently at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in film and media studies and minoring in creative writing. She plans to pursue her masters in screenwriting after graduating. You can contact Anya at anya.ellis@gvwire.com.