The jackpot for the Mega Millions is worth almost $1.3 billion ahead of Friday night's drawing. No matter the odds, there's always a chance -- and that's all anyone needs to hear.
The winning numbers for Friday's $1.28 billion Mega Million jackpot — the third-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history — have been drawn.
The numbers for Friday's drawing are 67, 45, 57, 36 and 13 with a Megaball of 14.
Mega Millions
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The odds of hitting the jackpot are one in more than 302 million, however, some stores in Massachusetts seem to be luckier than others.
Here's a list of the statistically luckiest ones in the Boston area, each of which sold at least two winning tickets worth $1 million or more from June 2021 to June 2022.
- Ted’s Stateline Mobil, Methuen – 3
- A1 Plus Convenience, Worcester – 2
- Correia & Sons Market, Somerset – 2
- Crossroads Marketplace, Leicester – 2
- Dairy Market, New Bedford – 2
- Ocean Street Market, Hyannis – 2
- Woodland Variety & Grill, Vineyard Haven – 2
At Commonwealth Market in Boston, the Mega Millions jackpot is so big that there isn't enough space on the sign for it. But the owner is hoping he sells a winning ticket. His biggest winner was only $100,000.
"A lot of people buy," store owner Muhammed Siraj said. "They like to try their luck, and now it is very huge, so a lot of people come."
While the chances of winning are slim, people were still making their wish lists Friday as they bought tickets.
"Buy a big house out in California, quit my job," said Edward Cheng of what he would do with any potential winnings.
"We should pay our bills, we will pay our mortgage and share the rest of the money," said Lisa Baiadela.
People in Boston's Allston neighborhood were apparently feeling pretty generous Friday morning. Many of them told NBC10 Boston they'd put the money toward good causes if they were to find themselves jackpot winners.
“I would probably open a community center where I could feed people in my neighborhood," Joe Vachoe said.
Others had their eyes on helping people a little further away from Boston.
“I’d definitely donate a lot to Ukraine because I’m actually Ukrainian," Sofia Handzy from Allston said. "And my family is from there so I’d definitely try to help out with the war.”
Lafemme Bolden, meanwhile, would want to make sure her family members have what they need.
"I’d take care of my kids, my grandkids," Bolden said. "Make sure they’re all set up for school… college."
If you do end up with the lucky numbers, you'll have some pretty major decisions to make. One of those decisions is how to claim your winnings, which some experts say to do anonymously. You'll also have to decide if you want the money in a lump sum or an annuity.
If you take the lump sum, minus federal and Massachusetts taxes, you'd walk away with just shy of $376 million. You're advised to take the annuity if you're a big gambler or if you're unsure of how to handle hundreds of millions of dollars.
"Most people aren't used to working with all that money, so it really is important to kind of take a breath and build your team," said Jennifer Lane with Compass Planning Associates.
"Take a breath, step back, make a copy of the ticket front and back and then go underground," Lane added. "Don’t tell anybody that doesn’t need to know. Maybe your spouse, maybe not. Maybe your mother, maybe not. Then you need to build your team."
Experts say you'll need a lawyer, a financial planner and an accountant to figure out how much exactly will go to taxes.
"They may have recommendations as to who to talk to at the upper level of the wealth management of a bank or a brokerage firm," Lane said. "Because you’re not going to walk into a bank with a cashiers check for $600 million. And the cashier will be like 'What,' and then they’ll want to be your friend."
Each Mega Millions ticket costs $2.
