Two Mega Millions players win big but just miss $165 million jackpot in California

Two Mega Millions tickets sold in California won $85,000, narrowly missing out on the estimated $165 million jackpot, lottery officials say.

The tickets matched five winning numbers in the drawing Tuesday, Jan. 9, but not the Mega Ball, the California Lottery said.

Nobody won the grand prize, which will rise to an estimated $187 million, with a cash option of approximately $91 million, for the next drawing Friday, Jan. 12, the national Mega Millions site said.

The winning numbers were 12, 15, 32, 33 and 53, with a Mega Ball of 24.

More than 88,000 other tickets sold in California won prizes ranging from $2 to nearly $8,000 in the drawing, the lottery said.

The $85,000 tickets were sold at a store in Temecula and a gas station in American Canyon.

A ticket sold in Virginia also matched five numbers but not the Mega Ball..

What to know about Mega Millions

To score a jackpot in the Mega Millions, a player must match all five white balls and the gold Mega Ball.

The odds of scoring a jackpot prize are 1 in 302,575,350.

Tickets cost $2 and can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times vary by state.

Drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

This story was originally published January 10, 2024 at 9:13 AM with the headline "Two Mega Millions players win big but just miss $165 million jackpot in California."