North Carolina player wins $2 million using family birthdays

The mystery lucky player from North Carolina who recently became a millionaire by winning a $2 million Mega Millions prize on the April 12, 2024 draw has come forward!

The winner bagged the prize by using her secret strategy – the numbers she used were all her family's birthdays. Burlington resident Brenda Stokes told lottery officials that she was so excited by her win that she didn't know how to feel.

Brenda purchased her ticket from Philomena Inc., located at 3325 South Church Street in Burlington. The winning numbers were 1, 12, 14, 18, 66, and Mega Ball number 16, and the Megaplier was 2X. She matched all five white balls to win $1, but her prize was doubled because she added the Megaplier option. Brenda was the only player to take a $2 million prize.

Still in shock, Brenda traveled to the North Carolina Lottery headquarters earlier this week to claim her prize. After tax withholdings, she took home a check for $1,430,001. She plans to use the money to take a trip and make some investments.

Mega Millions update

On Monday's drawing, the winning numbers were 21, 26, 36, 44, 59, and Mega Ball number 2. The Megaplier was 4X. There were no winners for the $148 million in this drawing. No one matched all the white ball numbers for a $1 prize. A total of 15 winners matched four white balls and the Mega Ball for a prize of $10,000. Three of these winners also added the Megaplier, which increased their prize to $40,000. The next mega Millions drawing will take place on Friday, April 19, at 11 p.m. Eastern Time. The jackpot has rolled over to an estimated $178 million.

Fun facts about Mega Millions

Here are some facts about Mega MIliions that you may not know:

• Highest jackpots ever: Mega Millions is the only lottery game so far to award six jackpot prizes of over $1 billion. Two $1 billion prizes were awarded in 2023 and one in each of the following years, 2018, 2021, 2022, and 2024.
• Friday the 13th: Some people think of Friday the 13th as an unlucky day, but it has been very lucky for the four lottery players who won Mega Millions jackpots on that day in 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2017.
• 2002 was a great year: Six huge Mega Millions jackpots were claimed in this year:
• January: California - $426 million
• March: New York - $128 million
• April: Minnesota - $110 million, Tennessee - $20 million
• July: Illinois - $1.337 billion
• October: California - $502 million
• Gorilla winner: In March 2012, Colo the Gorilla, a resident at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, correctly picked the winning numbers ahead of a drawing in March 2012 for a jackpot of $656 million.

 Enjoy playing Mega Millions, and please remember to play responsibly.