‘The right numbers’: Massachusetts man wins $2.64 million Megabucks jackpot

BOSTON — For 30 years, Kevin Connor has been playing the same lottery numbers, over and over, hoping to win big some day.

Over the weekend, his dream finally came true.

Connor, a Leicester resident, won a $2.64 million jackpot prize in the Massachusetts State Lottery’s Megabucks drawing on Saturday.

He claimed his prize on Monday at Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters in Dorchester, received a one-time payment of $1,868,298, before taxes.

Connor said he has been playing the same Megabucks numbers for over 30 years. He plays a combination that consists of his wife’s old landline number from when they first started dating, as well as his wife’s favorite number.

He purchased his winning ticket last Wednesday after playing a round of golf at Hillcrest Country Club. The club, located at 325 Pleasant St. in Leicester, will receive a $26,400 bonus for its sale of this ticket.

Connor said he was in Maine with his family for the weekend when he found out he had the winning numbers.

“I woke up Sunday morning, picked up my phone, went right to the app, and beelined it to my Jeep to get my ticket and make sure I had the right numbers,” said Connor.

He said he plans on using some of his winnings to pay for his children’s college tuition and buy himself some new socks.

This is the fourth Megabucks jackpot won since the game was redesigned on Nov. 12, 2023, lottery officials said, to bring more value to players, with better odds of winning, a higher average jackpot, and double the winnings for all non-jackpot prize tiers.

Monday drawings were added to the traditional lineup of Wednesday and Saturday drawings.

By reducing the numbers to choose from in the game from 49 to 44, the odds of winning the jackpot and all other prize tiers improved significantly, lottery officials said.

The odds of winning the jackpot went from 1 in 13,983,826 to 1 in 7,059,052.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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