Sept. 11 (UPI) – A Mega Millions ticket purchased in a Houston suburb brought the seventh-highest total prize in the game’s history – $800 million, lottery officials said Wednesday. The ticket, purchased at the Murphy USA supermarket in Sugar Land, Texas, had winning numbers 1, 2, 16, 24 and 66, drawn Tuesday night, as well as the gold Mega Ball 6. The drawing offers the opportunity to win $404.2 million in cash.
“It is the 15th Mega Millions jackpot won in Texas, including one shared with other states, since the state joined the game in December 2003,” Mega Millions officials said in a statement. “The huge prize is by far the largest Mega Millions jackpot ever won in September, the seventh-largest jackpot in the game’s history and only the third won this year.”
The last big Mega Millions jackpot was on March 26, when a ticket from New Jersey won the $1.128 billion prize, but no one has come forward to claim it.
The other jackpot, worth $552 million, was won on June 4 with a single Illinois Lottery ticket.
Powerball, the country’s other lottery, will have a $134 million jackpot drawing on Wednesday, with an optional cash payout. The Mega Millions jackpot will restart at $20 million on Friday.
