newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

A jackpot prize which began at $12 million on January 27 has now gone through 16 drawings without a winner.

Which means the estimated annuity jackpot for the Mega Millions lottery drawing on March 23 is $290 million, and the lump sum payout is estimated at $205 million.

According to the Mega Millions website, the winning numbers for Tuesday, March 20 were 1, 4, 6, 11, 14, and the Mega Ball was 30.

CLICK HERE FOR WINNING NUMBERS

I think the skyrocketing jackpot has brought out some new players. According to Lottery Post, an incredible 68 tickets matched the first five numbers, but winners were unable to come up with the Mega Ball. The tickets earn $250,000, and five of them were from New Jersey.

California’s pari-mutuel payout system might turn away some of their players. That state had 21 second prize winners, but those players will receive “just” $56,382. California calculates its prize amount based on the amount of tickets sold and the winners in each category.

A lucky New Jersey player did even better than that in Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing. A $70 million jackpot, or approximately $42 million in a cash payout was won near Asbury Park, according to Philly.com. The ticket was purchased at Little Silver Family Pharmacy, in Little Silver, Monmouth County.

The Little Silver Pharmacy is quickly gaining a winning reputation. Co-owner Matt Parisi said they sold a Mega Millions ticket worth $250,000 last year, and a scratch-off ticket that won $7,500, according to the Asbury Park Press. The Powerball winner was sold between Sunday and Wednesday. As of Thursday afternoon, the prize had not yet been claimed.

Elsewhere, Philly.com reported that winning Jersey Cash 5 tickets were recently sold in South Jersey. A winning ticket in the Wednesday, March 14 drawing for a jackpot of $424,073 was purchased at Todd's News Agency, in Vineland. And a winning ticket for $65,220 was sold at Friendly Food Mart in Cherry Hill for the drawing of March 10.