Ticket sold in Michigan wins $1 billion jackpot; Four in Maryland win $10,000
The longest jackpot roll in Mega Millions history came to an end on Friday, Jan. 22 as a $1 billion jackpot-winning ticket was sold in Michigan. But there is also a Maryland Lottery player with a million reasons to smile!
If you bought a ticket at Cranberry Liquors in Westminster for the Jan. 22 drawing, you may be Maryland’s newest millionaire. The lucky player holding that ticket matched five of the winning numbers in the drawing to capture a $1 million second-tier prize. Another four Maryland Lottery players won $10,000 prizes in the Jan. 22 Mega Millions drawing.
A player in Michigan won the $1 billion jackpot, the second-largest in Mega Millions history and third-largest in U.S. lottery history, trailing only the $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot in January 2016 and the $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot in October 2018. The cash option for the Jan. 22 Mega Millions drawing was $739.6 million (before taxes).
Cranberry Liquors, located at 405 North Center Street in Westminster, sold a $1 million ticket that matches all of the first five numbers drawn on Jan. 22: 4, 26, 42, 50 and 60. It missed winning the jackpot because it did not match the Mega Ballnumber of 24. The Megaplier for the Jan. 22 drawing was 2X. Lottery officials encourage the winner to sign the back of the ticket immediately and put it in a safe location.
Winners typically get 182 days from the date of the drawing to claim prizes. However, the Lottery has temporarily extended claiming deadlines due to Maryland’s COVID-19 state of emergency.
The big winner can claim the prize by mail or in person by appointment at the Lottery headquarters’ Customer Resource Center located at 1800 Washington Blvd. in Baltimore. Winners of smaller prizes can claim them by mail, at Lottery retailers, at casinos or by appointment at Lottery headquarters. Get details on how to claim by mail here, how to schedule an appointment here and how to cash prizes at casinos and Lottery retailers here.
The Carroll County retailer is a winner as well. Cranberry Liquors will receive a $2,500 bonus for selling the ticket.
Nationally, there were nearly 7.4 million winning tickets in the Jan. 22 drawing, with prizes ranging from $2 to the jackpot. Maryland saw 163,636 players win prizes. Of those, 15,254 paid the extra $1 to add Megaplier to the $2 ticket for the drawing, which doubled their prizes.
Four Maryland players won third-tier prizes of $10,000. Those tickets were sold at:
- Holiday Liquors, 3385 Leonardtown Road in Waldorf
- Royal Farms #174, 1261 Liberty Road in Sykesville
- 7-Eleven #11548, 1350 Odenton Road in Odenton
- 7-Eleven #28823, 10524 Connecticut Avenue in Kensington
We’ve seen 1,061,910 Maryland Mega Millions winners during the Sept. 18-Jan. 22 jackpot roll. During that span, there have been nearly 42.8 million winning tickets nationally at all prize levels, including 70 worth $1 million or more and 1,144worth $10,000 or more.
The lucky ticket sold at Cranberry Liquors was one of 10 across the country that won a second-tier prize in the Jan. 22 drawing. Two of those – tickets sold in North Carolina and Virginia – had the Megaplier and doubled their prizes to $2 million.
Mega Millions tickets are sold in 47 states and jurisdictions. Odds of winning a $1 million prize are 1 in 12 million, while the overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24. Watch Mega Millions drawings at 11:22 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays on WBAL TV. Winning numbers are available at mdlottery.com and on your smartphone by downloading the free MD Lottery app.
