It’s the fifth-largest jackpot in the game’s history. Tracie Strahan reports.
Someone in New Jersey won the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot Tuesday night, breaking a winless streak that dated to last December.
The numbers drawn were: 7, 11, 22, 29, 38 and the gold Mega Ball 4. State lottery officials said the winning ticket was sold at ShopRite Wines & Spirits of Neptune, which is located on the Jersey Shore.
The retailer will receive a bonus check of $30,000 for selling the winning ticket. The ticket-holder, meanwhile, has yet to come forward. In New Jersey, lottery winner can remain anonymous.
Until the latest drawing, there had been 30 straight drawings without a jackpot winner. The last time someone won the game’s top prize was on Dec. 8, 2023, when two winning tickets were sold at the same gas station in Los Angeles, splitting the $394 million prize.
The $1.13 billion jackpot is for a winner who is paid through an annuity, with an initial payment and then 29 annual payments. Most winners choose a cash payout, which would be $537.5 million.
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The prize is the eighth-largest in U.S. lottery history.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever, worth $1.602 billion, was sold on Aug. 8, 2023, in Florida.
Lottery jackpots grow so large because the odds of winning are so small. For Mega Millions, players have a 1 in 302.6 million chance of taking home the top prize.
The jackpot has now reset to its default $20 million.
The next big U.S. lottery drawing will be Wednesday night for an estimated $865 million Powerball jackpot. No one has won that prize since New Year’s Day, making for 36 drawings without a winner.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is played in those states as well as Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
