Someone beat the odds and won the $1.28 billion Mega Millions jackpot, but it wasn't bought in Virginia. However, Virginia did benefit from everyone's excitement.
During the 29 drawings of the jackpot run that began in April and ended with Friday night’s drawing, sales of Mega Millions tickets in Virginia generated an estimated $30.2 million in profit.
All the money profited goes to the state's public education, by law.
In Friday night's drawing alone, more than 405,000 Mega Millions tickets bought in Virginia won prizes. Four tickets matched four of the first five numbers plus the Mega Ball number. Normally that wins $10,000, however, one of those players spent an extra dollar for the Megaplier, which doubled that prize to $20,000.
The $20,000 winning ticket was bought online. Of those 405,000 winning tickets bought in Virginia for Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing, more than 64,000 were bought online at valottery.com.
The three $10,000 winning tickets were bought at:
- 7-Eleven, 13821 Heathcote Blvd. in Gainesville
- Wawa, 510 West Shirley Ave. in Warrenton
- Sheetz, 15 Wyche Road in Stafford
The winning numbers in Friday's drawing were 13-36-45-57-67, and the Mega Ball number was 14.
Mega Millions drawings are held Tuesday and Friday nights at 11 p.m. According to the Virginia Lottery, the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350. The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24. Prizes start at $2 and increase all the way to the jackpot.
