Michigan ticket wins $1B Mega Millions prize

A ticket bought in Michigan has won an estimated $1 billion, the second-largest jackpot in Mega Millions lottery history and the third-largest in U.S. history, lottery officials said early Saturday.

The winning numbers in the Mega Millions drawing were: 4, 26, 42, 50, 60 and a Mega Ball of 24.

The winning ticket was purchased at Kroger in Novi, located at 47650 Grand River Ave., the Michigan lottery reported early Saturday.

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The Mega Millions top prize has been growing since Sept. 15, when a winning ticket was sold in Wisconsin. Michigan's last winning ticket was a shared jackpot won in 2017.

Friday night’s drawing comes two days after a ticket sold in Maryland matched all six numbers drawn and won a $731.1 million Powerball jackpot.

The jackpot figures refer to amounts if a winner opts for an annuity, paid in 30 annual installments. Most winners choose a cash prize, which for Mega Millions would be $739.6 million.

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The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are incredibly steep at one in 302.5 million.

Until Friday night's big win, the largest Lottery prize ever won by a Michigan player was a $337 million Powerball jackpot. Donald Lawson, of Lapeer, won that jackpot on Aug. 15, 2012.

The largest Mega Millions prize ever won in the state was won on April 22, 2005. A Port Huron couple, Ralph and Mary Stebbins, won $208 million playing Mega Millions.

The last Michigan player to win a Mega Millions jackpot was Kevin Blake, of Waterford Township. Blake won half of the game's $42 million jackpot in October 2017. The other winning ticket was purchased in Rhode Island.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.