Two Mega Millions players narrowly missed the jackpot — but still won massive prizes worth celebrating.
One lucky ticket sold in North Carolina won $4 million, while another scored a $1 million prize in the drawing Tuesday, April 23, according to the N.C. Education Lottery and Mega Millions websites.
The winning numbers: white balls 11-17-33-39-43, with gold Mega Ball 14.
Each of the North Carolina tickets matched the five white balls picked in the drawing. But since one of the players spent an extra dollar on the Megaplier option, that person’s prize quadrupled to $4 million, according to game rules.
So, where did the lucky winners buy their life-changing tickets?
The $1 million ticket came from Enmark Station on Tunnel Road in the popular mountain town of Asheville. Meanwhile, the $4 million ticket was sold online in Kernersville, near Winston-Salem, lottery officials told McClatchy News in an email and wrote in a news release.
The players matched all but one number picked in the drawing, just missing out on the estimated jackpot prize of $202 million. But because no one hit the jackpot, the $4 million win was the biggest in the country the night of the drawing, results show.
Five tickets from Tuesday’s drawing matched the five white balls — two in North Carolina, two in Florida and one in California, officials said.
As of about 8:45 a.m. April 24, neither of the North Carolina winners had come forward to claim the prizes. The state gives winners about six months to cash in, lottery officials said.
What to know about Mega Millions
To score a jackpot in the Mega Millions, a player must match all five white balls and the gold Mega Ball.
The odds of scoring a jackpot prize are 1 in 302,575,350.
Tickets cost $2 and can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times vary by state.
Drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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