“We know that many people will likely receive tickets to Friday’s drawing as holiday gifts, and what a gift that would turn out to be if you ended up with a ticket worth a $1.15 billion jackpot,” Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a news release before the jackpot rose again to $1.22 billion.

One Mega Millions ticket sold in Northern California has won Friday’s estimated $1.22 billion jackpot – believed to be the fifth-largest prize in the history of the game, the lottery says. The ticket – the first to win the jackpot in over 100 days – matched all six winning numbers: 3,

Hang onto those stocking-stuffer lottery tickets. The Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed $1 billion after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Christmas Eve.