HomeHot PicksCalifornian player makes a quick stop - secures $3.6m jackpot

Californian player makes a quick stop - secures $3.6m jackpot

JACKPOTS26 Mar 2026
2 min. read
California
  • As the Mega Millions jackpot remains unclaimed, a player won more than $3,600,000 from the most recent drawing
  • The ticket holder, whoever they are, missed the Mega Ball number that would have led to the grand prize
  • The odds of matching all five numbers in Mega Millions, as the winner did, are one in 12,629,232

A lottery player in California could hardly believe their luck when they discovered that their smoke shop pit stop had resulted in a lifetime payout, with more than $3,600,000 paid out from a Mega Millions ticketpurchased without a second thought.

Missing Mega Ball number prevents Cali player from scooping $70M

The player then overcame some serious odds as they matched the five numbers on the ticket for odds of one in 12,629,232, making the event all the more unexpected. The ticket produced an eye-watering jackpot of $3,665,000 and was bought at the Chill Out Smoke Shop at 4437 Sepulveda Blvd, Suite B in Torrance, California.

The lottery did not provide any specific information as to who may have won and what their name was, but they won with the numbers 4, 13, 52, 53, and 69. It is not clear whether anyone hasstepped forward to claim their prizeas of the time of reporting, but the March 24 drawing has awarded various prizes to multiple players across the nation, with winning tickets also sold in New Jersey.

In the meantime, the Mega Millions jackpot has grown to about $70,000,000, and another drawing is coming on Friday, March 27.

The California player could have hit the grand prize had it not been for getting the wrong Mega Ball number in the end. Luckily for the player, though, their ticket included a 2x multiplier, rounding up the prize to $3,665,000 from $1,832,649.

Great as this story is, it pales in comparison with the story of an Australian woman who spent 50 years playing the lottery before winning a grand prize of AU$1,200,000.


Image credit: Unsplash.com

26 Mar 2026
2 min. read
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