Mega Millions player spends extra dollar and quadruples NC prize to $4M. ‘Had a feeling’

A Mega Millions player in North Carolina got a “nice early birthday present” in the form of a whopping $4 million win.

“I just picked some random numbers,” Shawn Snook told the North Carolina Education Lottery. “I woke up the next day and there you go. I couldn’t believe it.”

Snook has now claimed his windfall, which came out to $2.87 million after taxes, lottery officials announced Jan. 28.

“We just started building a house so this really comes at a great time for us,” Snook told the N.C. Education Lottery.

When the Statesville man bought his ticket for the Dec. 17 Mega Millions drawing, he paid an extra dollar for the Megaplier, results show.

Though Snook was one number away from hitting the estimated $760 million jackpot, the Megaplier ended up being 4X and turned Snook’s $1 million prize into a $4 million prize, the highest amount won that night, McClatchy News reported.

Snook beat the 1-in-12,607,306 odds of matching all five white balls.

“I’ve told multiple people that I’m going to hit a big one one day,” Snook told lottery officials. “I just had a feeling.”

Statesville is part of the Charlotte metropolitan area.

What to know about Mega Millions

To score the 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. Officials have announced they will cost $5 starting in April.

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 28, 2025 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Mega Millions player spends extra dollar and quadruples NC prize to $4M. ‘Had a feeling’."