Second largest Mega Millions $1.35 billion jackpot has finally been won

Owner Fred Contreau at his Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, Maine where the winning ticket was sold Photo: WCVB Channel 5

A single ticket-holder in Maine is set to start the new year with a bang, having matched all six numbers drawn in Friday night's Mega Millions drawing.

The numbers were - 30, 43, 45, 46 and 61, plus the gold Mega Ball 14.

The prize is $1.348 billion ($723.5 million cash), making it the second-largest jackpot in the history of the game.

The winning ticket was bought at Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, Maine Photo: WCVB Channel 5

“Congratulations to the Maine State Lottery, which has just won its first-ever Mega Millions jackpot,” said Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald, Lead Director for the Mega Millions Consortium (photo).

“It’s the fourth billion-dollar jackpot in Mega Millions history. We thank all our retailers for their hard work during this spectacular run, and our customers for their enthusiasm and support.”

“I hope the fun and excitement Mega Millions has generated inspires a winning attitude in our daily lives and towards everyone we meet. Here’s to a good year!” he said.

The $1.35 billion Mega Millions draw made on Friday 13 January, 2023 Photo: Mega Millions/YouTube

Friday night’s jackpot win is the seventh on a Friday the 13th since the game began in 2002, and the first on such a day since October 2017.

The lottery said that the final jackpot amount may differ slightly from initial estimates, based on actual sales.

BREAKING RECORDS

The record Mega Millions jackpot remains $1.537 billion, won by a single ticket in South Carolina on October 23, 2018.

This 26-drawing jackpot run ends with a bang, with 7,072,832 winning tickets across all nine prize tiers in the January 13 drawing alone, including the jackpot-winning ticket.

Fourteen tickets matched all five white balls to win the game’s 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.

For matching four white balls plus the Mega Ball, 164 tickets have a third-tier win.

Of those, 27 included the optional Megaplier (available in most states with an extra $1 purchase), which was 2X on Friday night; they are worth $20,000 each.

The remaining 137 second-tier winning tickets take home the standard $10,000 prize.

LAST WIN

The jackpot had been rolling since it was last won on October 14, when a $502 million prize was shared by winning tickets in California and Florida.

Through the 26 drawings beginning October 18, there were more than 40.3 million winning tickets across all prize tiers.

These include 82 second-tier prizes worth $1 million or more, won in 25 different states from coast to coast: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.