Mega Millions player wins $300,000 in California. Where was lucky ticket sold?
A Mega Millions ticket sold in California just missed the $301 million jackpot but won $304,042, lottery officials said.
The ticket matched five winning numbers but not the Mega Ball in the drawing Tuesday, March 18, the California Lottery said.
The winning ticket was sold at a Chevron gas station in Diamond Bar, which is about a 30-mile drive east from Los Angeles.
Nobody won the grand prize, which rises to an estimated $324 million, with a cash option of approximately $150.6 million, for the next drawing Friday, March 21, the national Mega Millions site said.
The winning numbers were 27, 28, 31, 32 and 33 with a Mega Ball of 24, the lottery said. The Megaplier multiplier was 3x.
More than 575,000 other tickets sold in the United States won prizes ranging from $2 to $30,000 in the drawing, the lottery said.
The Mega Millions jackpot was last hit Jan. 17, when an Arizona player won the $112 million grand prize, lottery officials said.
What to know about Mega Millions
To score the jackpot in Mega Millions, a player must match all five white balls and the gold Mega Ball. The odds of scoring a jackpot prize are 1 in 302,575,350.
Tickets cost $2 and can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times vary by state. Officials have announced they will cost $5 starting in April.
Drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.