A lucky lottery player in California is celebrating a life-changing win after matching all six numbers in Friday’s Mega Millions drawing to claim an estimated $1.3 billion jackpot, the fifth-largest in the game’s history.
The winning ticket, featuring the numbers 3, 7, 37, 49, 55, and the gold Mega Ball 6, was purchased in Cottonwood, California, about 200 miles north of San Francisco. “What an amazing present this holiday season! At an incredibly special time of year, this is both an incredibly special moment for our winner,” said Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium.
This massive prize was reached after 30 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner. The odds of hitting all six numbers are a staggering 1 in 302,575,350.
The win adds to California’s history of record-breaking lottery payouts. The largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever was a $2.04 billion Powerball prize won by a California ticket holder in November 2022.
For now, Cottonwood and the rest of the state share in the excitement of this monumental win, which brings a festive twist to the holiday season. The lucky winner has not yet been publicly identified.
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