Mega Millions: 1 Winning Ticket Sold

DEARBORN, MI – The winning ticket to the fourth largest Mega Millions jackpot was sold in Florida. The holder of the ticket will receive an estimated jackpot of $450 million or a $281 million lump sum.

Here are the winning numbers for Friday, Jan. 5: 28, 30, 39, 59 and 70, and the Mega ball was 10.

The largest Mega Millions jackpot was $656 million, which was divided among the holders of three winning tickets for the March 30, 2012 drawing. The second largest ticket was $648 million divided among the holders of two winning tickets in the Dec. 17, 2013 drawing.

The last Michigan player to win the Mega Millions jackpot was Kevin Blake of Waterford. Blake won half of the game’s $42 million jackpot in October 2017. The other winning ticket was purchased in Rhode Island.

Lottery fever is expected to continue through the weekend. The Powerball jackpot is now up to $570 million for the drawing at 11 p.m. Saturday. No one correctly picked all five numbers, and the Powerball, in the Wednesday drawing.

Winning numbers for that Powerball drawing were: 2, 18, 37, 39 and 42; and the Powerball number was 12.

The last Michigan player to win the Powerball jackpot was Julie Leach of Three Rivers, according to the Michigan Lottery. Leach won the game’s $310.5 million jackpot on Sept. 30, 2015.

If a Michigan player wins Saturday’s $57 0 million jackpot, it will be the largest Powerball jackpot ever won in the state, beating out LaPeer's Donald Lawson's Aug. 15, 2012 grand prize, a $337 million Powerball jackpot. Lawson’s jackpot holds the record for the largest lottery prize ever won in Michigan.

Powerball tickets are $2, but must be purchased by 9:45 p.m. Saturday. A “Power Play” option that multiplies non-jackpot prizes by up to 10 times to a maximum of $2 million may be added to any Powerball play for only $1.

Odds of winning either the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot are pretty slim.

The odds of winning Powerball are about one in 292.2 million, compared to one in 302.6 million for Mega Millions. Mega Millions and Powerball are both played in 44 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. Powerball is also played in Guam.

The Powerball jackpot drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. Tickets cost $2.

There are nine ways to win a Powerball prize. The overall odds of winning any prize are about 1 in 25.

Winning the jackpot requires matching all five numbers, plus the Powerball. Players who match five numbers win $1 million; players who match four numbers plus the Powerball win $50,000; players who match four numbers win $100; players who match three numbers plus the Powerball win $100; players who match three numbers win $7; players who match two numbers plus the Powerball win $7; players who match one number plus the Powerball win $4; and players who match only the Powerball win $4.

Mega Millions drawings are at 11 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday. Five balls are drawn from a set numbered from 1 to 70, and one ball is drawn from a set numbered 1 through 25. Jackpot winners must match all numbers

There also are nine ways to win a Mega Millions prize. Overall odds of winning some kind of prize are 1 in 24.

Players who match five numbers from the first pool win $1 million; those matching four numbers from the first pool and the Gold Mega Ball number win $10,000; those matching four numbers from the first pool win $500; those matching three numbers from the first pool and the Gold Mega Ball win $200; those matching two numbers plus the Gold Mega Ball win $10; those matching one number and the Gold Mega Ball win $4; and those matching only the Gold Mega Ball win $2.

Here’s a fun fact: The odds of winning both jackpots is a staggering 1 in 88 quadrillion.

File photo by David Goldman/AP