Just in time for the weekend, the big Mega Millions jackpot prize for the Friday night drawing has been increased to an estimated annuitized $1.28 billion due to increased sales and excitement among lottery players across the nation over the last few days.
North Texans started lining up at convenience stores as soon as they opened Friday morning to take their shot at winning the jackpot.
One man waiting in like at Chuck’s Grocery in Arlington says he's won smaller jackpots before from that particular store. He's hoping for a bigger jackpot today.
No place in Tarrant County has sold more winning lottery tickets than Chuck's Grocery. Owner Lupe Beltran even set up a "Wall of Winners" with dozens of people who've won prizes ranging from a hundred dollars to a few with a million. He says he always stays busy, but with tonight's jackpot, the lines are even longer.
The jackpot is the second largest jackpot prize in game history and the third largest in U.S. lottery history. Friday’s drawing offers a cash value worth an estimated $747.2 million
Another woman says her office pool has swelled to 58 players, each putting in $20 for a shot at a big payoff. “They call this the lucky store. I saw all the winners posted on the wall, thought I’ll purchase some tickets, see what I can do.”
She says she's going to several different stores across North Texas instead of buying them all in one place in case one spot is luckier than another.
Friday’s drawing will be the 30th in the current Mega Millions jackpot run since starting as an estimated annuitized $20 million for the April 19 drawing. This is the largest Mega Millions jackpot up for grabs since the Oct. 23, 2018 drawing when it reached an estimated $1.537 billion – the game’s largest jackpot prize, which was won by an out of state player.
Texas has had 13 Mega Millions jackpot prize winners since it joined the game in 2003. Its most recent jackpot winner came in September 2019 when a Leander resident won an estimated annuitized $227 million, the largest prize ever paid out to a single Texas Lottery player.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
Related
Related
