A player from New York successfully chose all six numbers in Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing. However, Pennsylvanians fared well, too, notching $1 million+ wins in the last two contests.
The most recent Keystone State win occurred during the first jackpot draw of 2019 on Jan. 1. One fortunate Pennsylvania resident correctly selected the five white balls (34, 44, 57, 62 and 70) that popped into the machine.
The winner also had the prescience to select the Megaplier option. The randomly-selected multiplier for this drawing quadrupled the win, meaning that someone is $4 million richer in 2019.
Six other players joined the lucky Pennsylvanian in the Match 5 winners circle. Bettors from New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas will add an extra $1 million to their net worths, although the Pennsylvania winner was the only one who selected the Megaplier.
The Mega Millions big prize is the big story, but not the only one
Of course, most people are interested in details about the single winner of the actual jackpot. The player, who purchased their ticket in New York, won a jackpot of $437 million, or just under $262 million via the cash option.
The win was the eighth largest in Mega Millions history, according to a press release. The only other time a bettor has won a jackpot on New Year’s Day was when a Texas player scored in 2008.
The Jan. 1 drawing was a particularly fruitful one for players from New York. In addition to the jackpot winner, three of the Match 5 millionaires hail from the Empire State.
However, no other state besides Pennsylvania featured sizeable winners in consecutive drawings. A D&J Sandwich Shop patron in Reading secured a $1 million prize during the Dec. 28 Mega Millions drawing.
Neither Pennsylvania winner nor the New York jackpot recipient has identified themselves yet. Most experts agree that discretion and caution are essential for the safety and security of jackpot winners.
2019’s drawings have big shoes to fill
Mega Millions personnel are no doubt thrilled that the first day of the year awarded a jackpot. However, the PA Lottery and other state lotteries will have to work to eclipse its performance in 2018.
Last year, players won more than $3.2 billion in jackpots from Mega Millions. That figure eclipsed the yearly total of any two of Mega Millions’ previous years.
Obviously, the main engine behind the record-setting 2018 was the Oct. 23 jackpot. That drawing, which was the last to award before this one, carried a value of $1.537 billion on its jackpot.
A single ticket in South Carolina matched all six winning numbers in that drawing. The new billionaire has not revealed themselves yet, presumably for the same reasons listed above.
Of course, the jackpots have ballooned in recent years due to Mega Millions personnel making alterations in the odds of winning. The odds of winning the jackpot are so astronomical (1 in 302,575,350) that purchases from most of America’s citizenry might still not produce a winner.
In other words, someone wins Mega Millions these days only because somebody eventually has to. There’s no telling when or where lightning will strike next.
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