A player from Utah won $3 million in a Mega Millions drawing, but he didn’t realize his victory until a few weeks later.
J. Refugio González Almeida traveled from Utah to the city of Malad, Idaho, just to make sure he bought a ticket for the Mega Millions drawing that would take place on July 4.
“Playing the lottery is my hobby. When I didn’t win the jackpot that Friday, I thought, ‘I need a ticket for the 4th of July,’ so I went back to Malad on Saturday,” Almeida said.
In the drawing on July 4, which also happened to be his birthday, Almeida was successful in matching five of the six winning numbers, but failed to land the entire jackpot.
He also managed to match a Megaplier of three, which multiplied his $1 million win and brought it up to $3 million.
In Mega Millions, the Megaplier is an additional option that players can choose when purchasing a ticket.
If you hit a prize in the draw and you have selected the Megaplier option, your prize will be multiplied by the value of the Megaplier selected for that spin.
However, Almeida didn’t realize he had $3 million until a month later.when he went back to the store to verify his tickets by scanning them.
“I had $2, $8, not much,” Almeida said. “And then they scanned this and told me I had to take it to the Lottery Commission. So here I am!”
The man said he plans to invest his new fortune.
To win a Mega Millions jackpot, a player must match all five white balls and the gold Mega Ball.
Odds of winning a jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.
Tickets are only $2 and can be purchased the day of the drawing.
Drawings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 pm ET.
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