Gas-station quick pick nets Mega Millions player $810 million
A single ticket sold in Texas claimed the $810-million Mega Millions jackpot Tuesday evening, marking the second-biggest prize for that lottery this year.
The winning numbers of 1, 2, 16, 24, 66 and 6 were clinched on a quick pick entry sold at a Murphy USA gas station and convenience store in Sugar Land, Texas, a suburb of Houston.
Tuesday’s winner can opt for an annual annuity that pays out over 30 years or claim a $409.3-million lump sum.
The prize is the largest jackpot ever won by a Texas lottery player, according to Mega Millions officials. Overall, the Texas ticket is the seventh-largest in Mega Millions history.
Steve Tran went days without knowing that he was the second of two winning Mega Millions jackpot ticket holders.
A grand prize of $1.602 billion purchased in a Neptune Beach, Fla., supermarket in August 2023 remains the largest purse in Mega Millions history.
The largest Mega Millions prize this year came from a winning $1.128-billion ticket bought at a Rite Aid in Neptune Township, N.J., in March.
A San Jose player split a $648-million prize with a woman from Georgia in 2013, marking the largest Mega Millions jackpot won by a Californian.
A ticket purchased Tuesday in the unincorporated town of Floriston, on the border of California and Nevada near Truckee, matched five of six numbers and nabbed a prize of $605,656. Other winners with five numbers hailed from Florida, New York and Washington and claimed $1 million.
An Oct. 8 auction features jewelry, art and political memorabilia owned by longtime California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died last year.
California public schools silently benefited from the lottery, taking home $66.8 million from sales related to this jackpot, according to California Lottery spokesperson Carolyn Becker.
The jackpot grew since the previous win on June 4 and rolled over 27 times. Californians contributed $167 million in sales to the jackpot, according to Becker, with roughly 40% getting kicked back to schools.
The game, which costs $2 for a single ticket, is played in 45 states along with Washington, D.C. Drawings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Tuesday’s prize was only the third Mega Millions jackpot won this year.
In comparison, Friday’s Mega Million jackpot is estimated to be $20 million.
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