Corona Mega Millions Player Almost Hits Jackpot

A Mega Millions lottery ticket with five numbers from tonight’s draw, but missing the Mega number, was sold at a 7-Eleven in Corona and is worth $308,573.

There were 47 tickets sold in the multi-state game with five numbers, but missing the Mega number, including nine in California. The 38 sold outside California in California are each worth $250,000, a California Lottery official announced.

California law requires most major payoffs of lottery games in the state to be paid on a pari-mutuel basis.

The numbers drawn tonight were 9, 19, 34, 44, 51 and the Mega number was 24. The estimated jackpot was $363 million, the third largest in the history of the game which began in 1996. Only the $390 million million jackpot for the March 6, 2007, drawing and the $380 million jackpot for the Jan. 4, 2011, drawing have been larger.

The drawing was the 18th since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold.

The odds of matching all five numbers and the Mega number is 1 in 175,711,536, according to the Mega Millions website. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 40.

The estimated jackpot for Friday’s drawing will grow to $476 million, the largest in the history of the game.

The Mega Millions game is played in 41 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.