The third largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history was won Friday night by a player in Michigan who was the sole player to win the $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot. The drawing held on Friday, Jan. 22 was also the second largest Mega Millions jackpot ever won, beaten only previously by a $1.5 billion jackpot won in 2018.
Where the winning ticket was sold in Michigan is unknown right now, but lottery officials typically release that information the day after the drawing.
With the jackpot win, that means the drawing on Tuesday, Jan. 26 will be worth $20 million with a cash option of $14.7 million.
The Mega Millions numbers for Jan. 22: 4-26-42-50-60
The Gold Mega Ball: 24
The Megaplier: 2
Mega Millions winners for Jan. 22:
· Along with the grand prize winner, 10 tickets sold matched all five white numbers drawn to win $1 million. Those tickets were sold in Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Two of those winners were sold in Florida and New York.
· The players in North Carolina and Virginia also played the Megaplier option, which increased their winnings to $2 million.
· There were 3,300,077 tickets sold that won at least $4 in the drawing. In Michigan, 116,846 tickets sold won at least $4 in the drawing.
Mega Millions drawings are held Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. Five balls are drawn from a set of balls numbered 1 through 70; the Mega ball is drawn from a set of balls numbered 1 through 25. The odds of winning the jackpot is 1 in 302 million.
Mega Millions is played in 44 states, plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. Tickets cost $2 each.
In other Michigan Lottery news:
· The next Powerball drawing is Saturday, Jan. 23 with an estimated jackpot of $20 million and a cash option of $15 million.
· The next Lotto 47 drawing is Saturday, Jan. 23 at 7:29 p.m. with a jackpot of $1.15 million. Deadline is 7:08 p.m. that day.
· Saturday’s Fantasy 5 jackpot is an estimated $136,000. The drawing is at 7:29 p.m. Deadline is 7:08 p.m.
For the latest on Michigan Lottery, check out the official Michigan Lottery site, which also offers more information on instant tickets, raffles and other lottery games.
The last player from Michigan to win a Mega Millions or Powerball jackpot was Cristy Davis of Waterford who won $70 million playing Powerball in February. With her winnings, Davis said she planned to buy a new house and car.
And while she was a lucky winner, it’s smart for players to check their tickets immediately as a winner worth $1 million sold in Hartland in 2019 went unclaimed. The ticket was purchased at the Speedway in Hartland, but the winner never came forward to claim the prize. The money instead went to the state’s School Aid Fund.
If you’d like to be the next player from Michigan to win a huge lottery prize, take a look at these tips from lottery expert Richard Lustig. The author of “Learn How To Increase Your Chances Of Winning The Lottery” has won more than $1 million in Florida by winning top jackpot prizes in smaller games.
