CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia lottery players will test their luck during the next Mega Millions drawing Friday night.
The jackpot is valued at an estimated $1.35 billion, the second largest prize in the game’s history. The cash value is $707.9 million.
No player hit all of the numbers in Tuesday night’s drawing. A $1 million Mega Millions ticket was sold at the Corridor G Exxon Tiger Mart on Sand Plant Road in South Charleston on Monday.
Greg Miller, district manager of City Ice and Fuel who oversees the store, told MetroNews it was a thrill to hear that someone from that part of West Virginia won big.
“It’s kind of a rural area up in there and to know that somebody can actually do some good for their families with this money is truly exciting,” Miller said.
🚨 CHECK YOUR TICKETS! A winning Mega Millions® ticket worth $1 MILLION was sold in South Charleston, WV. The winner is encouraged to sign the back of the ticket immediately. #playwvlottery #megamillions pic.twitter.com/OSF54RQkOc
— WV Lottery (@WVLottery) January 11, 2023
Lottery ticket sales have soared since the last drawing, but Miller said some remain skeptical about buying from a winning location.
“Some people are out there going ‘well, Corridor G hit, so I can’t buy it there for a while because they’re not going to hit again’ but that’s not how it works,” he said. “Somebody could buy one today and still win just as big as they did on Monday.”
Miller said the higher the jackpot grows, the more lottery players they see.
“That’s even when you have a $700 million or $800 million prize. It gets really extreme when it gets over hat $1 billion mark, but your business doubles when it comes to lottery sales,” he said.
The $1 million Mega Millions ticket was the highest valued ticket they’ve sold at the Tiger Mart, Miller said.
“We’ve sold big ones at some of our other stores, but that was the first time that anybody has ever won that big at our Corridor G store,” he said.
The state Lottery urges winners to sign the back of their winning ticket and call the lottery at 304-558-0500 for instructions on how to claim their prize.
Tickets can be purchased for $2 each, or $3 with the Megaplier option, which increases non-jackpot prizes. Tickets for the next drawing must be purchased by 9:59 p.m. Friday.
If hit, the jackpot would be the fourth largest in U.S. lottery history.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot was hit in 2018 in South Carolina at $1.53 billion.