Mega Millions player misses $154 million jackpot — but wins big in California
A Mega Millions player in California just missed the $154 million jackpot but won $47,355, lottery officials said.
The ticket matched four winning numbers, the Mega Ball and a 5x multiplier in the drawing Friday, May 23, the California Lottery said.
California adjusts lottery prizes based on the number of tickets sold and number of winners.
The lucky ticket was sold at a Lucky California supermarket in Napa, which is about a 50-mile drive northeast from San Francisco, lottery officials told McClatchy News in an email.
Nobody won the grand prize, which rises to an estimated $173 million, with a cash option of approximately $75.7 million, for the next drawing Tuesday, May 27, the national Mega Millions site said.
The winning numbers were 7, 18, 40, 55 and 68 with a Mega Ball of 18, the lottery said.
More than 215,000 other tickets sold in the United States also won prizes ranging from $10 to $50,000 in the drawing, the lottery said.
The Mega Millions jackpot was last hit April 18, when an Ohio player won the $112 million grand prize, lottery officials said.
What to know about Mega Millions
To score the jackpot in the 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 290,472,336.
Tickets cost $5 and can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times vary by state.
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.
This story was originally published May 25, 2025 at 6:43 AM.