(NewsNation) — Someone is $1.22 billion richer after buying the winning Mega Millions lottery ticket in Cottonwood, California, Friday night.
After no players won Christmas Eve, the Mega Millions lottery jackpot ballooned to its fifth-largest total. The last time someone won the game was Sept. 10.
Although the odds of winning are 1 in 302.6 million, someone played the right numbers: 3, 7, 37, 49, 55. The Mega Ball was 6.
The winner’s identity is not immediately known.
This is only the seventh time in Mega Millions lotto history that the winning pot has reached the billion-dollar threshold. The largest ever Mega Millions prize was $1.602 billion, won in August 2023 by a player in Neptune Beach, Florida.
Friday night’s winner can opt for a cash payout, which would be an estimated $549.7 million, or an annuity paid over 29 years.
The last Mega Millions drawing of the year will be Tuesday, Dec. 31, reset to its starting value of $20 million. No one has ever won the jackpot on New Year’s Eve.
