It may have been an impulse purchase when buying some spirits over the weekend, but someone who bought a Mega Millions ticket in New Jersey has won the $1.1 billion jackpot.
The six numbers drawn Tuesday night were white balls 7, 11, 22, 29 and 38, plus the gold Mega Ball 4.
The winning ticket was purchased at ShopRite Liquor #781 in Neptune Township, N.J.
This is the first jackpot awarded in 2024.
“Congratulations to the New Jersey Lottery for selling a jackpot-winning ticket in Tuesday’s $1.128 billion Mega Millions drawing,” said Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin, lead director of the Mega Millions consortium. “We celebrate our new jackpot winner, as well as all the prizes won and dollars raised for good causes during this exciting jackpot run.”
In 31 drawings since the Mega Millions jackpot was last won on December 8 with two tickets in California, this jackpot run produced more than 29.9 million winning tickets at all prize levels ranging from $2 up to $4 million.
Fifty six second-tier prizes of $1 million or more were won in 22 different states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia
On Tuesday night, 13 tickets matched the five white balls to win the game’s second-tier prize. One, sold in New York, is worth $2 million, because it included the optional Megaplier which was 2X Tuesday night.
The other 12 second-tier prizes win the standard $1 million each, and were won in California, Colorado, Florida (2), Georgia (2), Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York (2) and Ohio.
Across the country, 171 tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the game’s third-tier prize. Thirty four are worth $20,000 each because they also included the optional Megaplier; the other 137 third-tier winning tickets are worth $10,000 each.
The jackpot for the next drawing on Friday, March 29, resets to its current starting value of $20 million.
Tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Tickets are $2 each; in most jurisdictions, players can add the Megaplier for an additional $1 to multiply their non-jackpot prizes.
Half of the proceeds from the sale of each Mega Millions ticket remains in the state where the ticket was sold, where the money supports designated good causes and retailer commissions. In Virginia, proceeds go to K-12 education.
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Crystal Graham
