Mega Millions Jackpot for Friday’s Drawing is a Record-Breaking $500 Million
The 26-year-old first-time Lottery player cited 363 million reasons for his inaugural purchase. “I heard them talking about last night’s $363 million jackpot on the radio and decided to buy a few,” said the Germantown resident. “I had never bought a lottery ticket before – ever. Not even a scratch-off.” The lucky player was one of two Marylanders to win the second-tier prize. With no jackpot winner in last night’s drawing, Friday’s lottery jackpot is $500 million, the largest in world history.
The I.T. consultant made his Mega Millions purchases around 9:45 last night. He bought seven to be exact –six quick pick and one with numbers he randomly chose himself. He then checked his tickets online around 11:30 pm and discovered that he had won the second-tier prize on the ticket with his selected numbers.
“I kind of didn’t believe it at first,” he said. “I ran and woke up everyone in the house.” Among the roused family members were his mom, sister and grandfather. “My mom started laughing. Then we double checked and triple checked the ticket.”
Even then, he remained unconvinced of his newfound wealth. “I slept well — didn’t really think about it. I honestly don’t think I’m going to believe it until I leave,” he said. “I think the ride home may be different than the one here,” he added with a chuckle.
The winner’s intentions for the money are still up in the air. “I haven’t yet decided. My mom’s birthday is this weekend and I may send her somewhere nice,” he said. His winning ticket was purchased at 7-11, located at 19786 Crystal Rock Drive in Germantown.
With one big win under his belt, the new lottery fan intends to buy some tickets for everyone in his family for the next historic Mega Millions drawing.
Currently there are two $250,000 second-tier wins which remain unclaimed in Maryland. One from last night’s drawing, which was purchased at High’s Dairy Store, located at 6700 Sykesville Rd. in Sykesville and another from the March 20 drawing which was purchased at Murphy’s Brass Rail in Pasadena. Winners have 182 days from the drawing date to claim.
The multi-state Mega Millions game is played in 44 states and jurisdictions – including Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia. Mega Millions drawings can be seen on Tuesday and Friday evenings at 11:22 p.m. on WBAL-TV, Channel 11 and at 11:53 p.m. on MPT.
Learn how to sign-up for Mega Millions jackpot text alerts and winning numbers via text.