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Can you imagine turning $3 into $4 million? It's not an easy thing to do, but one lucky North Carolina man did just that!
Online play pays off
Craig Adolff of Kernersville decided to try his luck playing Mega Millions. He bought his $3 Mega Millions ticket for the April 23 drawing using the Quick Pick option. He used the North Carolina Lottery website to buy the ticket using Online Play.
It paid off big time, as Adolff matched all five white balls to win $1 million. He also included the Megaplier with his ticket purchase, which was 4X for the April 23 drawing. That means the $3 ticket Adolff purchased online turned into a $4 million winning ticket!
For the April 23 drawing, the $4 million winning ticket was the largest prize won nationally. The odds of matching numbers on all five white balls are 1 in 12.6 million.
On May 10, Adolff made his way to the lottery headquarters to collect his prize. After federal and state tax withholdings, Adolff took home $2.86 million.
Even more Mega Millions money is up for grabs tonight
While Adolff is quite happy with his $4 million win recently, other players want their shot at hitting it big playing Mega Millions. That can happen tonight as the Mega Millions jackpot continues to grow.
For the May 10 drawing, players in North Carolina (and throughout the country) can purchase tickets for their chance at winning the $331 million jackpot. If you happen to purchase that jackpot-winning ticket, you have the option of taking home the $331 million jackpot as an annuity or $153.1 million in a lump-sum payment. The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302 million.
The North Carolina Lottery shared some interesting numbers concerning Mega Millions in the state:
- 16,889 - That is the total number of winning tickets sold in the state in the Tuesday, May 7 Mega Millions drawing
- $4.3 million - An estimate of how much money has been raised for education during this current Mega Million run.
Current Mega Millions jackpot run
Of course, this current jackpot run followed the first Mega Millions jackpot win of 2024 in March. After more than 15 weeks, one lucky ticket holder in New Jersey matched all six numbers drawn in the March 26 drawing — the white balls of 7, 11, 22, 29, and 39, and the Mega Ball of 4 — to win the $1.13 billion jackpot.
That was the fifth-largest jackpot in the history of the game. The winning ticket was purchased at ShopRite Liquor #781 in Neptune Township, N.J. While the location of the winning ticket is known, the winner still isn't. The lucky winner hasn't stepped forward to claim their prize yet.
The New Jersey Lottery was one of the original members of the Mega Millions Consortium when the game was first formed in 2002. Since then, they have seen 24 Mega Millions jackpot winners.
Enjoy playing the North Carolina Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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