Oh, thank heaven -- the winning tickets in the $494 million Mega Millions drawing on Friday night were sold at 7-Elevens.
Two tickets on opposite coasts were winners, with the winning numbers sold in Florida and California, lottery officials said.
The winning numbers drawn were 9, 22, 26, 41 and 44, plus the gold Mega Ball 19, lottery officials said in a news release. If the winners decide to take a lump sum, they will split $252 million.
The jackpot heading into Friday night was $494 million, but the final tally was $502 million due to strong sales, lottery officials said in a news release.
According to the Florida Lottery, one of the winning tickets was sold at a 7-Eleven in Fort Myers, an area ravaged by Hurricane Ian, WFLA-TV reported. The California Lottery said its winning ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven store in San Jose, according to the television station.
It is the 11th-largest jackpot in the game’s history and the second-biggest of 2022.
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It was the first time someone had won the Mega Millions drawing since July 29, when a winning ticket worth $1.337 billion was bought at a gas station in Des Plaines, Illinois, WBBM-TV reported. The prize was claimed by two people in mid-September.
The last time multiple tickets shared a single Mega Millions jackpot was on Oct. 13, 2017, when winners in Michigan and Rhode Island split a $42 million prize, lottery officials said.
[ 2 claim $1.337B Mega Millions jackpot ]
Friday marked the sixth time a Mega Millions jackpot has been won this year.
Winning tickets were drawn on Jan. 28 in California worth $426 million; on March 8, when a $128 million ticket was sold in New York; on April 12, when a $110 million ticket was bought in Minnesota; on April 15, when a $20 million ticket was sold in Tennessee; and the $1.337 billion winner on July 29.
[ Mega Millions: Winning ticket for $1.337B jackpot sold in Illinois ]
The Mega Millions drawings are held on Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. EDT. The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.
The jackpot was reset to $20 million, with the next drawing occurring on Tuesday.