Morgan Hill ticket matches 5 of 6 numbers in $1 billion Mega Millions drawing
MORGAN HILL, Calif. -- Unfortunately, no one in California won the $1 billion jackpot after Friday's Mega Millions drawing. But one person in Morgan Hill, Calif., came very, very close.
They purchased a Mega Millions lottery ticket that matched five of the six numbers, a ticket that will collect nearly $3.5 million, according to lottery officials.
The ticket that matched five of six numbers without a matching Mega number was sold at an AM/PM gas station at 18605 Monterey Road in Morgan Hill. The payout for the ticket is $3,404,526.
RELATED: Mega Million winning numbers drawn for $1 billion jackpot
No one has won the big Mega Millions prize since July, when a group of co-workers at a Wells Fargo Bank in San Jose, Calif., shared a $543 million jackpot.
Friday's $1 billion prize was the largest since the game was introduced in 2002. This coming Tuesday's Mega Millions jackpot is estimated to be $1.6 billion.
"Wow, amazing," said Jennifer Laurio, who lives in Pleasant Hill, as she stood outside the Morgan Hill AM/PM where the lucky lottery ticket was purchased. "I would like to go here more often to buy lotto. And actually I do buy scratchers in here, too. I did (win) about $50."
RELATED: Mega Millions: San Francisco Safeway employee wins $1.9 million; jackpot soars to $900 million
Earlier this week, a Safeway employee in San Francisco also matched 5 of 6 numbers of the Mega Millions jackpot.
We spoke with Santa Clara University mathematics Prof. Dan Ostrov about your odds.
RELATED: Bay Area residents line up to buy tickets as Mega Millions jackpot reaches $1B
"You're 50 times more likely, approximately, to die from lightning striking you than winning the jackpot," Prof. Ostrov said.
But hey, if you're still hopeful, there's always tomorrow.
The Powerball jackpot is at $470 million.
ABC7 News contributed to this report.
