newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Yes Virginia, more people in New Jersey would believe in Santa Claus if he dropped off a huge Mega Millions jackpot to one of our lottery players before visiting your state.

After no one hit the Mega Millions jackpot for the 14th consecutive time on Tuesday, the grand prize for the Friday, Dec. 23 drawing will be $173 million, with a cash option value of an estimated $129.5 million.

Winning Mega Millions numbers on Tuesday, Dec. 20 were as follows:

20 - 24 - 27 - 45 - 51    Mega Ball: 31.

Lottery Post reported that there were nine players who matched the first five numbers without the Mega ball, none of them coming from New Jersey. But our players fared better in the secondary prizes on Tuesday.

A lottery player from Bridgeton received some holiday cheer in the drawing in more ways than one. The News of Cumberland County reported that the Bridgeton player was one of four from New Jersey who won $10,000 third place prizes on Dec. 20. The Bridgeton ticket was sold at Supermarket Discount Liquors.

According to philly.com, the last Mega Millions winner came on November 1, when a California player won a jackpot worth $78 million in annuity value.

ABC News reported that a spokeswoman for New York’s lottery said there has never been a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day winner in Mega Millions history. So far the closest came on Dec. 22, 2009 when a couple from New York won $165 million.

So there’s always a first time. Christmas is the time to believe.