Megaplier makes $1,000,000
Last Updated: Monday 15th December 2008, 09:05
A group of Texas Lottery players are thanking his lucky stars that they chose to take advantage of the Megaplier feature when they bought their MegaMillions ticket last week. Ordinarily the Tomas Torres Living Trust of Lake Jackson, Texas, would have won $250,000 because their ticket matched five main numbers but not the Mega number. Fortunately, they had played the Megaplier and when this came up it elevated their win to a truly spectacular $1,000,000.
For those who are new to MegaMillions, the game is played in twelve US states, including California, New York and, of course, Texas. Players are required to select 5 main numbers from the range 1 to 56 and 1 Mega number from the range 1 to 46. The top prize is won by players who correctly match all six of these numbers.
The Megaplier feature, which was introduced to the game in Texas back in 2003, allows players to pay an additional $1 and choose to increase any five main number prize they win by 2, 3 or 4 times. The Tomas Torres Living Trust opted for four times, and so when the Megaplier number 4 was drawn, their $250,000 win was suddenly worth a cool million.
Trust member Tomas Torres has worked in a restaurant for his entire working life, and he has no intentions of changing that because he doesn’t think that the money will have that much of an impact on his lifestyle. In a written statement penned on behalf of the trust he said: “We have decided to give a portion to our church, because if we really did win, it was by God’s will. We still have to work and help our families in Mexico to live. But now, if we have really won, it will be a little easier if one of us gets sick and cannot work.”
Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Anthony Sadberry said: “Not only does Megaplier increase the number of million-dollar winners in the state, the feature contributes millions of dollars in sales every year. By providing innovative game features, the agency strives to support Texas education, through contributions to the Foundation School Fund.”