Million-Dollar Winner In NJ As Mega Millions Jackpot Hits $1.6B

New Jersey had a big winner – again – Friday as the Mega Millions jackpot soared past its previous record, hitting an estimated $1.6 billion, or $905 million cash.

New Jersey had a $1 million winner as the new jackpot record, which beat the previous mark of $868 million set on Tuesday, will be up for grabs on Tuesday, Oct. 23, according to lottery officials. The jackpot comes after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Friday night – the white balls 15, 23, 53, 65 and 70, plus the gold Mega Ball 7.

The ticket was sold at Citgo Mart, 519 Route 33, Millstone Twp, Monmouth County. Read more: $1M-Winning Mega Millions Ticket Sold In Millstone

Ironically, the $1 million ticket location in the Saturday Powerball jackpot drawing was announced as that jackpot his $620 million. Read more: Another NJ Million-Dollar Winner As Powerball Jackpot Hits $620M

At $1.6 billion, Tuesday's Mega Millions drawing slips past the $1.586 billion Powerball drawing on January 13, 2016, to become the largest lottery jackpot in history. Winners in California, Florida and Tennessee shared the record Powerball prize.

"Mega Millions has already entered historic territory, but it’s truly astounding to think that now the jackpot has reached an all-time world record,” said Gordon Medenica, lead director of the Mega Millions Group and Director of Maryland Lottery and Gaming. “It’s hard to overstate how exciting this is – but now it’s really getting fun.”

Before the marks set this past week, the previous record Mega Millions jackpot was $656 million, which was shared by winners in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland in the drawing on March 30, 2012.

The last Mega Millions jackpot hit was in the drawing held July 24, 2018, when a group of 11 co-workers in California shared a $543 million prize. There have been 25 drawings without a jackpot winner since then, but there have been more than 34.4 million winning tickets sold across the game’s nine prize levels.

While there was no jackpot winner on Friday, there were 15 second-tier winning tickets of at least $1 million, sold in California, Florida, Illinois (two), Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York (four), Texas (two, including one with the Megaplier for a $2 million prize) and Virginia (two). These tickets matched the five white balls but missed matching the Mega Ball.

Mega Millions tickets are sold in 44 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are held at 11 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays.

All New Jersey Lottery Mega Millions tickets must be purchased before 10:45 pm to participate in the drawing. Mega Millions tickets cost just $2; by adding the Megaplier option for an extra dollar per play, players can increase their non-jackpot winnings up to five times.

In New Jersey, a $1 million winning ticket was purchased in Morris County for the Tuesday drawing. Read more: $1 Million Mega Millions Ticket Sold In Morris County

View all New Jersey Lottery game winning numbers and drawings for the Pick-3, Pick-4, Jersey Cash 5, Pick-6, CASH4LIFE and 5 Card Cash games on the Lottery website (www.NJLottery.com) or on the official Lottery Facebook Page.

Evening draws, with the exception of CASH4LIFE and 5 Card Cash, can be seen on WPIX-TV (PIX11) in New York and WPHL-TV (PHL17) in Philadelphia. Powerball and Mega Millions drawings can be seen on WABC-TV or WTXF stations.

YouTube photo/video