Mega Millions player wins big in California. Where was the lucky ticket sold?
A Mega Millions player in California won $70,900, just missing the $198 million jackpot, lottery officials said.
The tickets matched four winning numbers and the Mega Ball with a 2x multiplier in the drawing Friday, Aug. 15, California Lottery officials said.
California adjusts lottery prizes based on the number of tickets sold and number of winners.
The lucky ticket was sold at a CVS Pharmacy in Alamo, which is about a 30-mile drive northeast from San Francisco, lottery officials said in an email to McClatchy News.
Two tickets sold in New York won $2 million and $3 million each.
The winning numbers were 4, 17, 27, 34 and 69 with a Mega Ball of 16, the lottery said.
Mega Millions jackpot rises
Nobody won the grand prize, which now rises to an estimated $216 million, with a cash option of approximately $97 million, for the next drawing Tuesday, Aug. 19, the national Mega Millions site said.
Nearly 215,000 other tickets sold in the United States also won prizes ranging from $10 to $150,000 in the drawing, the lottery said.
The Mega Millions jackpot was last hit June 27, when a Virginia player won the $348 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 August 17, 2025 at 6:58 AM.