One more correct number would have added $62,954,154 to the prize
Somebody bought a lottery ticket with five winning numbers on it for the May 31, 2023 California SuperLotto Plus drawing. Great news!
However, the big jackpot — in this case, a whopping $63,000,000 — required six winning numbers. The lucky player did not get the Mega number correctly.
The result: The California Lottery reports a winner, just not a multi-million-dollar winner. The ticket matching those five numbers but missing the Mega number wins the second prize of $45,846.
It’s not millions, but almost $46,000 is nothing to sneeze at. Who was the winner?
This was a very recent drawing as of this writing, so no information is available yet about whoever bought the second prize-winning ticket. If they haven’t checked their numbers, they may not even realize that they have won anything.
What were the winning numbers?
The numbers that would have won the $63,000,000 grand prize for California’s SuperLotto Plus drawing on May 31, 2023 were:
1, 17, 21, 23, 30, and Mega number 25.
The second-prize winning ticket matched the first five numbers but not the Mega number 25.
Where did the almost-millionaire buy their ticket?
The second-prize winning ticket was sold at Food 4 Less, a California grocery store and lottery retailer. The exact location is shown on the map below.
SuperLotto Plus vs. Powerball and Mega Millions
The California Lottery’s home page helpfully shows three big jackpots for those willing to risk a dollar or two. One of them costs just a dollar to get into the game, while each of the other two will require two of your hard-earned dollars.
What do you get for your dollar or dollars?
As of this writing, the two-dollar Mega Millions ticket gives you a chance at a jackpot of $203,000,000. The similarly priced Powerball ticket puts you in the running for an even more extravagant grand prize of $262,000,000.
The SuperLotto Plus ticket only costs a dollar. The jackpot is still life-changing, but at a “mere” $64,000,000 it is a fraction of the other two jackpots.
The Devil is in the details, along with the odds of winning a jackpot
Each of the California Lottery game links in the previous section will take you to the “How to Play” page for that game. And here, if you will pardon an awful pun, are what I would call the “money quotes” for each game: (emphasis added)
Powerball:
“...pick 5 numbers between 1 and 69 and 1 Power Number between 1 and 26.”
Mega Millions:
“... pick 5 numbers between 1 and 70 and 1 Mega number between 1 and 25.”
SuperLotto Plus:
“... pick 5 numbers between 1 and 47 and 1 Mega number between 1 and 27.”
If you go to the “Game Odds” tab on each of the game pages linked above, you will see the impact of the additional number choices for Powerball and Mega Millions. The odds against winning one of these jackpots are several times the odds against winning a SuperLotto Plus jackpot.
How does a better chance at a smaller (but still fabulous) jackpot sound to you?
When the odds get into the tens of millions and beyond, the differences begin to seem irrelevant. But let’s face it, anyone who buys a lottery ticket would love to win the big prize.
Since the odds are much better for SuperLotto Plus than the other two big games, that has become my preference. Leave a comment if you would like to share your thoughts on this.
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