SACRAMENTO - It’s still not too late to get a jump on the holiday shopping season this September in the quest for that perfect bargain gift, and the California Lottery has just the ticket. A single lucky $1 MEGA Millions lottery ticket could yield a $163 million prize that will surely make someone’s holidays very merry indeed.
Just imagine what you could do to make this holiday season memorable with $163 million at your disposal. Consider buying the world’s most expensive Christmas tree ornaments -- Fabregé eggs. To celebrate the season, go with the Imperial Winter Egg made of Siberian rock crystal, more than 4,500 diamonds and featuring a platinum Easter basket with flowers in gold, garnets, and crystals. It set a record when it was sold in 2002 for $9.5 million. With $163 million, you could afford a dozen of the famed eggs of which only 57 are in existence.
The $163 million MEGA Millions jackpot is the 3rd largest in California Lottery history. If the jackpot is won by a single person, it would be the largest individual prize since the Lottery’s inception. Since California joined MEGA Millions in 2005, four MEGA Millions jackpots have been won by Californians for a total of $472 million.
Lottery winners are not the only ones who benefit. Public education receives at least 34 cents of every dollar players spend on Lottery products. The California Lottery contributed a record $1.28 billion to public education in 2005-06 out of historic sales of $3.58 billion, the sixth year in a row the Lottery has provided more than $1 billion in supplemental funding for education. Since its inception in 1985, the Lottery has contributed more than $18 billion to California schools.
MEGA Millions can be played at approximately 18,500 retail business establishments around California. The MEGA Millions draw takes place each Tuesday and Friday night at 8:00 p.m. Players may purchase tickets until 7:45 p.m. on the night of the draw.