One lucky lottery ticket holder wins $1.13bn Mega Millions jackpot

After 31 tries, the Mega Millions jackpot has finally been won by one lucky player in New Jersey

One very lucky Mega Millions player has just won over $1bn after beating unmeasurable odds and breaking a months-long winless jackpot streak.

The ticket holder, from New Jersey, won an estimated $1.13bn jackpot in Tuesday night’s Mega Millions draw.

The numbers drawn were: 7, 11, 22, 29 and 38 and the gold Mega Ball 4.

The lucky ticket that matched all six numbers and the Mega Ball was sold at ShopRite Wines and Spirits of Neptune, a store located on the Jersey Shore.

This win is the fifth-largest jackpot ever won by a Mega Millions player, the biggest ever being $1.6bn in Florida in August 2023.

This time, the winner has also managed to beat staggeringly high odds, as it would have taken 1 in 302,575,350 to become the recipient of the jackpot.

The $1.13bn can be taken home through an annuity, with an initial payment upfront, and then the rest is split across 29 consecutive annual payments.

The other option will be to choose a cash payout, where the winner will receive $537.5m in one lump sum.

The New Jersey Lottery said that the winner is yet to come forward to file their claim, but in the meantime, ShopRite – where the lucky ticket was purchased – will receive a $30,000 bonus cheque.

The jackpot grew for over 15 weeks before 2024 finally had its first grand prize winner.

There has not been a Mega Millions jackpot winner since 8 December 2023 (AP)

It has taken 31 drawings to get to a new jackpot winner, after the last was won on 8 December with two tickets in California.

While there were no lucky jackpot winners until Tuesday, the run has produced more than 29.9 million winning tickets at all levels – from $2 all the way up to $4m across the country.

“Congratulations to the New Jersey Lottery for selling a jackpot-winning ticket in Tuesday’s $1.13bn Mega Millions drawing,” said Gretchen Corbin, the lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, in a statement.

“We celebrate our new jackpot winner, as well as all the prizes won and dollars raised for good causes during this exciting jackpot run.”

Tuesday’s drawing alone created 3,693,854 winning tickets, including the single winner of the jackpot prize.

While not everyone was lucky enough to be the recipient of the billion-dollar jackpot, Tuesday did create some other lucky winners.

12 people matched the five white balls, winning the second tier prizes of $1m and one person in New York swept up $2m for buying the optional Megaplier, which was 2X on Tuesday night.

New Jersey is not a bad state to be in for your chances of winning a Mega Millions jackpot, as it has seen 24 jackpot winners over the years, either singly or shared with other states.

The last person to win a jackpot in New Jersey prior to the lucky person being triumphant on Tuesday, was someone in July 2020.

As the jackpot has now been won, its value will be reset to $20m (or $9.5m in cash).

Tickets for the Mega Millions game are sold in 45 states, Washington DC, and the US Virgin Islands, costing $2 each, with most areas allowing players to add the Megaplier for an additional $1 to multiply their non-jackpot prizes.

Draws take place at 11pm ET on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia.