Mega Millions ticket sold in Baker, California, with a $2.9 million payout
The newest Southern California Mega Millions lottery winner was made Tuesday in the dusty town of Baker, known mostly for its Alien Fresh Jerky and the World's Tallest Thermometer.
Lottery officials took to Twitter to congratulate the unidentified lucky ticket winner who purchased at the Country Store in Baker, located between Barstow and Las Vegas.
The winner will pay $2.9 million after matching five out of six numbers in Tuesday's drawing.
The ticket matched every number except the Mega number, which would have garnered the customer the $830 million jackpot.
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The County Store, located on Baker Boulevard near the thermometer, will receive a bonus of $14,500 for selling the winning ticket.
Mega Millions is a multi-state jackpot game, with drawings held Tuesdays and Fridays. During the drawing, six numbers are drawn: five white ball numbers and the gold Megaballnumber.
Matching all six numbers wins the jackpot. There are eight other ways to match and win prizes up to $1 million.
Congratulations are in order! A lucky ticket sold at the Country Store in Baker, CA matched five out of six numbers missing only the Mega number in tonight’s 7/26 #MegaMillions draw earning $2.9 Million. The jackpot for Friday’s Mega Millions draw is now estimated $1.025 Billion! pic.twitter.com/ekYU9PAWme
— California Lottery (@calottery) July 27, 2022
Most recently, eight tickets matched five white balls — one in California, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio, along with two each in New York and New Jersey.
With no jackpot winners, the top prize soared to $1.02 billion. The estimated jackpot on Friday will be the nation's fourth-largest lottery prize.
The new estimated jackpot for Friday's drawing will be the nation’s fourth-largest lottery prize.
The $1.02 billion prize is for winners who are paid annually over 30 years to choose the annuity option. Most winners opt for the cash option, which for the next drawing on Friday night is an estimated $602.5 million.
According to megamillions.com, the Mega Millions website was down for more than two hours Tuesday night with unprecedented traffic after the drawing — more than any in the history of megamillions.com.
“Winning a million dollars would pay off my house, my daughter’s college tuition and would put some money in the bank,” Victorville resident Ricardo Valles, 49, told the Daily Press. “Winning a billion dollars would be a one-way ticket to disappearing from everyone.”
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot is 1 in 302.6 million.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Mega Millions lottery winner from Baker gets $2.9M
