Oh, thank heaven -- the winning tickets in the $494 million Mega Millions drawing on Friday night were sold at 7-Elevens.
Two tickets on opposite coasts were winners, with the winning numbers sold in Florida and California, lottery officials said.
The jackpot heading into Friday night was $494 million, but the final tally was $502 million due to strong sales, lottery officials said in a news release.
The winning numbers drawn were 9, 22, 26, 41 and 44, plus the gold Mega Ball 19, lottery officials said in a news release. If the winners decide to take a lump sum, they will split $252 million.
According to the Florida Lottery, one of the winning tickets was sold at a 7-Eleven in Fort Myers, an area ravaged by Hurricane Ian, WFLA-TV reported. The California Lottery said its winning ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven store in San Jose, according to the television station.
Winning ticket for Mega Millions $494 million jackpot sold in Florida https://t.co/vvNWBtr6yS pic.twitter.com/5w4OwQx22s
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) October 15, 2022
It is the 11th-largest jackpot in the game’s history and the second-biggest of 2022.
It was the first time someone had won the Mega Millions drawing since July 29, when a winning ticket worth $1.337 billion was bought at a gas station in Des Plaines, Illinois, WBBM-TV reported. The prize was claimed by two people in mid-September.
The last time multiple tickets shared a single Mega Millions jackpot was on Oct. 13, 2017, when winners in Michigan and Rhode Island split a $42 million prize, lottery officials said.
Friday marked the sixth time a Mega Millions jackpot has been won this year.
Winning tickets were drawn on Jan. 28 in California worth $426 million; on March 8, when a $128 million ticket was sold in New York; on April 12, when a $110 million ticket was bought in Minnesota; on April 15, when a $20 million ticket was sold in Tennessee; and the $1.337 billion winner on July 29.
The Mega Millions drawings are held on Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. EDT. The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.
The jackpot was reset to $20 million, with the next drawing occurring on Tuesday.
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