Mega Millions ticket holder wins $980M jackpot

Mo’ money November.A Georgia Mega Millions player won the estimated $980 million grand prize Friday night, the ninth largest in history, ending the game’s longest drought between jackpot winners.The winning numbers were 1, 8, 11, 12, 57 with the gold Mega ball 7.Friday night’s win is the first time in Mega Millions player matched all six numbers since an anonymous ticket holder won the $348 million jackpot during the June 27 drawing in Burgess, Virginia.There have been 39 consecutive winless drawings between the jackpot winners.The unidentified winner told lottery officials that they intend to purchase a new, zero-radius riding lawn mower.The ticket holder chose to take the one-time $155.6 million cash option instead of the $348 million prize, which would’ve been paid out over 30 years.It is the largest prize since the historic revamp in April, which increased ticket prices from $2 to $5.The revamp, marketed as “bigger and better,” was created to make larger prizes for all non-jackpot tier winners, better odds to win the jackpot and a larger starting jackpot of $50 million instead of the original $20 million.The odds of hitting a jackpot in the newly revamped game are 1 in 290,472,336.The $980 million pot is the eighth-largest in the game’s 29-year history, passing the $810 million prize that sold at a Texas gas station on Sept.10, 2024.Friday’s winner has the option to choose between the $980 million prize paid out over 30 years or the one-time lump sum estimated at $452.2 million....