News writer; Opinion columnist
New Jersey is the birthplace of Bruce Springsteen, the home of Tony Soprano, and, as of last week, the location of some serious lottery winners.
It's not exactly a surprise when someone wins the lottery, but New Jersey players went on a hot streak in the middle of April and cashed in seven tickets worth at least $10,000, including one that was valued at $1,000,000.
Winner 4 life
Sometimes, second place is still worth gold. At least it was for the New Jersey player who correctly picked all five white numbers but missed the Cash Ball in the April 18 Cash4Life drawing.
Those lucky numbers missed the top payout but were still good enough for the second-tier prize of $1,0000 a week for the rest of their lives, or they could opt for a one-time $1,000,000 payout.
The ticket was purchased through Jackpocket, an online lottery ticket-buying app. The winning numbers were 05, 36, 38, 45, and 59, with the Cash Ball being 01.
New Jersey Lottery Executive Director James Carey said:
We're excited to award this lucky player with a $1,000 a week for life prize, and can't wait to hear how this will benefit them in the years to come.
Cash4Life is a multi-state draw game with ten participating states. A jackpot winner receives $1,000 every day of their life, also payable as a $7 million one-time cash payout. Tickets cost $2 to play. Players must choose five numbers between one and sixty and a Cash Ball number between one and four.
Jersey Cashout
Most people walk out of a deli with a sandwich or a coffee. One big winner walked out with over $400,000.
Ottomanelli Liquors & Deli in Hoboken served pastrami with a side of jackpot when it sold a Jersey Cash 5 ticket that won a top prize of $413,311 in the April 19 drawing. The player correctly chose the winning numbers 07, 14, 23, 28, 42, and the XTRA number 04. The deli will receive a $2,000 bonus commission for selling the winning ticket.
To play Jersey Cash 5, players must select five numbers between one and forty-five. They also have the option to add an XTRA multiplier, which can increase the value of their prize (excluding jackpots) by up to five times.
You can also add an Instant Match to your ticket for an extra dollar. In this bonus game, the lottery terminal automatically selects five random numbers, and you can win up to $500 if your chosen numbers match the Instant Match numbers.
Tickets cost $1 each, and drawings are held every night just before 11 PM. The game features a cumulative cash jackpot, so if no one wins, the prize money will be rolled over to the next drawing.
Power players and Mega winners
Of course, if we're talking about big winners, then you know we'll eventually have to mention Power Ball and Mega Millions.
It was just one month ago that someone in New Jersey became an overnight billionaire when they won the $1.128 billion jackpot from the March 26 Mega Millions drawing, using the numbers 7-11-22-29-38 and Megaball 4.
The ticket was purchased at the Shoprite Liquor in Neptune, and the retailer will receive a $30,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
While none of last week's winners took home a prize quite that big, plenty of people woke up with larger bank accounts after some recent drawings.
One player collected $50,000 from the April 15 Powerball drawing with a ticket they purchased over the Jackpocket app. They correctly picked the five white numbers, 7-16-41-56-61, but missed the Powerball number 23. The Power Play for this drawing was three, so their prize would have been worth $150,000 if they had it activated.
Just a few days later, another player won $50,000 from the April 20 drawing with the numbers 4-35-41-44-58 and Powerball number 25. Their ticket was sold at a Wawa in Egg Harbor Township.
Two players from Bergen took home $10,000 each for getting four numbers plus the Mega Ball in the April 16 Mega Millions drawing. The winning numbers were 21-26-36-44-59, and the Mega Ball number was two. The Megaplier for this drawing was four, so they potentially could have taken home $40,000 each if they had played it.
Finally, to cap off a week of big wins and big prizes, one more Mega Millions player saw plenty of green when they cashed a ticket for $10,000 from the April 20 drawing. The ticket was purchased at Driq Linq in Edison, and the winning numbers were 19-30-34-46-58 with Mega Ball number 3.
