Maine gets 1st Mega Millions jackpot with huge $1.35 billion grand prize

Maine scored its first Mega Millions jackpot — and someone beat the ill fortune of Friday the 13th — when a ticket purchased in the state matched the winning numbers for the lottery’s estimated $1.35 billion grand prize.

The lucky numbers drawn Friday were: 30, 43, 45, 46, 61 and gold Mega Ball 14. The winning ticket was sold at Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, Maine. The southern Maine town of over 6,500 residents borders New Hampshire.

“There’s quite a buzz at our ... gas station this morning, I’ll tell you that,” said owner Fred Cotreau. The first thing he did was check to see he had bought the winning ticket, which he hadn’t.

“Hopefully one of the residents (or a) regular (customer) is the winner,” Cotreau said. “It’s exciting to have sold it but it’s just more exciting for a single winner and I’m just really hoping it’s somebody ... in town.”

The winner, whose name is not yet known, overcame steep odds of 1 in 302.6 million, which led to three months of drawings without a claim on the jackpot.

“Congratulations to the Maine State Lottery, which has just won its first-ever Mega Millions jackpot,” Pat McDonald, Ohio lottery director and lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement early Saturday.

The jackpot was the second largest in Mega Millions history and the fourth time the game has had a billion-dollar win. The largest Mega Millions jackpot in October 2018 was $1.53 billion claimed by a single ticket holder in South Carolina.

Friday’s drawing also marked the seventh time there was a grand prize winner on Friday the 13th, a date superstitiously considered unlucky.

To claim the full $1.35 billion, the winner would need to take the money in an annuity with annual payments over 29 years. Most jackpot recipients prefer the reduced but quicker cash option, which for Friday night’s drawing was an estimated $724.6 million.