In addition, New York stores sold 75 winning Mega Millions prizes of at least $10,000 during the last four-months.

“We know that many people will likely receive tickets to Friday’s drawing as holiday gifts, and what a gift that would turn out to be if you ended up with a ticket worth a $1.15 billion jackpot,” Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a news release before the jackpot rose again to $1.22 billion.

There’s a laundry list of horror stories about big lottery winners whose golden tickets led to strained family relationships, bankruptcy, prison or even murder.

At least one Mega Millions player has plenty of dough to ring in the New Year after drawing the winning number. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, a ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion was sold in California for the drawing Friday night, according to the Mega Millions website.

The Powerball jackpot increased again after it remained unclaimed, but one lucky person won a couple million on Christmas.

David Webb of Stokesdale tried his luck on Digital Instants on Tuesday and won a $545,885 progressive jackpot! Webb played a $1 ticket and won the top level ‘Epic jackpot’ in the Wheel of Bonuses game. Congrats on the win, David! https://t.co/Z2nJCfQIbq pic.twitter.com/BgozR8KMm6

Texans are running out to buy their Mega Millions tickets after no winning ticket was drawn for the jackpot on Tuesday night.

Texans are caught up in Mega Millions fever as the jackpot reaches $1.22 billion, with players like Jake Utterback religiously sticking to their lucky numbers.

The Mega Millions lottery jackpot was an estimated $20 million with a cash option of $9 million for Wednesday night's drawing, according to the Mega Millions website. The jackpot was last won on on Dec.