_
_
_
_

Maine gets 1st Mega Millions jackpot with $1.35B grand prize

The jackpot was the second largest in the lottery’s history and the fourth time the game has had a billion-dollar win

A Mega Millions sign displays the estimated jackpot of $1.35 billion as a customer purchases a Mega Millions ticket at the Cranberry Super Mini Mart in Cranberry, Pa., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.
A Mega Millions sign displays the estimated jackpot of $1.35 billion as a customer purchases a Mega Millions ticket at the Cranberry Super Mini Mart in Cranberry, Pa., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.Gene J. Puskar (AP)

Maine scored its first Mega Millions jackpot – and someone beat the ill fortune of Friday the 13th – when a ticket purchased in the state matched the winning numbers for the lottery’s estimated $1.35 billion grand prize. The lucky combination of numbers drawn late Friday night were: 30, 43, 45, 46, 61 and gold Mega Ball 14. The winning ticket was sold at Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, Maine, according to the Maine State Lottery.

The winner, whose name is not yet known, overcame steep odds of 1 in 302.6 million, which led to three months of drawings without a claim on the jackpot. “Congratulations to the Maine State Lottery, which has just won its first-ever Mega Millions jackpot,” Pat McDonald, Ohio lottery director and lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement early Saturday.

The jackpot was the second largest in Mega Millions history and the fourth time the game has had a billion-dollar win. The largest Mega Millions jackpot in October 2018 was $1.53 billion claimed by a single ticket holder in South Carolina.

Friday’s prosperous drawing also marked the seventh time there was a grand prize winner on Friday the 13th, a date superstitiously considered unlucky.

To claim the full $1.35 billion, the winner would need to take the money in an annuity with annual payments over 29 years. Most jackpot recipients prefer the reduced but quicker cash option, which for Friday night’s drawing was an estimated $724.6 million.

The next grand prize drawing on Tuesday will drop to an estimated $20 million and a cash option of $10.7 million. Until Friday night, there had been 25 straight drawings without a jackpot winner.

There were more than 7 million winning tickets across nine prize tiers Friday. Beyond Maine’s jackpot, 14 tickets matched five white balls to claim the second-tier prize of $1 million. Four were sold in New York, two in California and one each in Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas, Mega Millions said.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Tu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo

¿Quieres añadir otro usuario a tu suscripción?

Si continúas leyendo en este dispositivo, no se podrá leer en el otro.

¿Por qué estás viendo esto?

Flecha

Tu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo y solo puedes acceder a EL PAÍS desde un dispositivo a la vez.

Si quieres compartir tu cuenta, cambia tu suscripción a la modalidad Premium, así podrás añadir otro usuario. Cada uno accederá con su propia cuenta de email, lo que os permitirá personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PAÍS.

En el caso de no saber quién está usando tu cuenta, te recomendamos cambiar tu contraseña aquí.

Si decides continuar compartiendo tu cuenta, este mensaje se mostrará en tu dispositivo y en el de la otra persona que está usando tu cuenta de forma indefinida, afectando a tu experiencia de lectura. Puedes consultar aquí los términos y condiciones de la suscripción digital.

More information

Archived In

Recomendaciones EL PAÍS
Recomendaciones EL PAÍS
_
_