By Brandon DrenonBBC News27 March 2024Image supply, Getty ImagesA lottery participant in New Jersey hit the literal jackpot on Tuesday, changing into the proprietor of a successful Mega Hundreds of thousands lottery ticket price $1.1bn (£791m).The brand new billionaire needed to match the six successful numbers, which had been seven, 11, 22, 29, 38 – plus the “Mega Ball” 4. Doing so defied astronomical odds. There’s a one in over 302 million shot at successful the Mega Hundreds of thousands jackpot. It was the fifth largest jackpot within the historical past of the sport. The billion-dollar prize is simply an estimate, the lottery mentioned on Wednesday, till all gross sales of Mega Hundreds of thousands tickets are finalised. The jackpot winner may have the selection of receiving annual funds splitting the complete jackpot quantity or electing for a one-time lump-sum cost of $537.5m. In Tuesday’s lottery drawing, 13 ticket holders — in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York and Ohio — matched the primary 5 successful numbers and gained at the very least $1m.That is the primary Mega Hundreds of thousands jackpot gained on this 12 months. The final jackpot was grabbed by two gamers in California – a $394m prize – in December.The most important-ever US lottery jackpot was a $2bn Powerball prize gained in November 2022 by one other California ticket proprietor. The $2 Mega Hundreds of thousands tickets are bought in 45 states, Washington DC and the US Virgin Islands.Half of the proceeds from the sale of every Mega Hundreds of thousands ticket stays within the state the place the ticket was bought to assist “designated good causes” and retailer commissions, in keeping with the lottery.