Mega Millions For Dad
Last Updated: Monday 15th December 2008, 09:05
An infrequent Mega Millions player has won a jackpot worth $75 million after matching all of his numbers for the draw held on Friday 2 November, 2007. William Albertson, who is 35, is a father of four, and now the winner of the fifth biggest jackpot in Mega Millions history.
William, who lives in Putnam County, New York, had been enjoying a visit from his father when the subject of lottery tickets came up. His dad explained how he had bought tickets from every state he passed through when travelling across the country. This inspired William to buy a couple of tickets of his own, so despite having only played the lottery once before, he purchased $2 worth of Quick Pick tickets.
Mega Millions is a very popular lottery that is played in twelve American states, including California, New York, Texas and Washington. Players are required to select 5 main numbers from the range 1 to 56 and one “Mega” number from 1 to 46, given them a line of six numbers in total. If no jackpot winner is found then the fund rolls over to the next draw, and a even handful of consecutive draws without an outright winner can generate some substantial sums. The $75 million jackpot of 2 November came on the back of seven draws without a top prize winner.
The day after buying his tickets, William decided to check his numbers on his home computer with his five month old baby on his lap. He noted that his first two numbers were the same as those that had been drawn. Then he realised that the second two matched as well. Finally, the shocking truth sunk in. All of William’s numbers matched, and that meant only one thing – he had beaten odds of 1 in 175,711,536 to scoop the jackpot. “That’s when I got a little shaky,” William said later.
William plans to use some of his $75 million to take a holiday in Florida and to put his children through college. Whilst he plans to continue working – he is currently employed as a manager in the insurance industry – the win means that he can look forward to “becoming a hands-on dad."