A life-changing ticket from Bayville
An Ocean County man who said he still has trouble believing his good fortune has claimed a $2 million Mega Millions prize, according to the New Jersey Lottery. The winning Quick Pick was purchased at the Country Food Market on Route 9 in Bayville for the Oct. 6 drawing.
The winner matched all five of the drawing’s white-ball numbers. He did not match the Mega Ball, keeping him out of the advertised $345 million jackpot but still placing him among the game’s biggest nonjackpot winners. The lottery announced the claim Oct. 29.
The winner claimed the prize with his wife. At home, the couple celebrated with their dog and talked through what the sudden windfall could mean for their family. The man told lottery officials that the experience had unsettled his normal routine: He had difficulty sleeping after realizing what had happened, but went to work the next morning.
“I still don’t believe it.”
His plans are notably practical. The winner said he intends to pay off his mortgage, but he does not plan to leave his job. He works as a carpenter and described construction and hands-on work as central to his identity, rather than something he wants to abandon after receiving the prize.
“I am not going to sit around. I love to work. Building things with my own hands is who I am.”
The numbers behind the claim
The numbers drawn Oct. 6 were 26, 32, 42, 51 and 54, with 22 selected as the Mega Ball. The Bayville ticket matched the five white balls. The winner was one Mega Ball away from the jackpot; the source information states that his Mega Ball was 21.
| Drawing detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Drawing date | Oct. 6 |
| White-ball numbers | 26, 32, 42, 51, 54 |
| Mega Ball | 22 |
| Winning ticket type | Quick Pick |
| Purchase location | Country Food Market, Route 9, Bayville |
| Prize claimed | $2 million |
Why the prize was $2 million
Matching all five white balls is one of the most difficult outcomes in Mega Millions short of matching the full winning combination. The odds for that result are listed as 1 in 12,629,232. Because the ticket did not match the Mega Ball, it did not qualify for the jackpot.
The current Mega Millions format costs $5 per play. That price includes a multiplier, which can increase a qualifying prize by as much as 10 times the original amount, though the multiplier does not apply to the jackpot. Players select five numbers from 1 through 70 and one Mega Ball from 1 through 24, or ask the terminal to produce a randomly selected Quick Pick.
What players should know
The lottery’s rules make clear that a player does not need to be a U.S. citizen or live in the state where the ticket is purchased. The ticket, however, must be bought in a jurisdiction that participates in the game, and the deadline for buying a ticket varies by state. The cutoff may come well before the drawing, so players should check the applicable time rather than assume sales continue until the drawing begins.
- A ticket costs $5.
- Players choose five white-ball numbers and one Mega Ball, or use Quick Pick.
- A prize can be won by matching as little as the Mega Ball, with the minimum prize listed as $10.
- Matching all five white balls carries a minimum prize of $2 million, except in California.
- Purchase deadlines differ by state and may close 15 minutes to an hour or more before a drawing.
The Bayville winner’s experience also illustrates the narrow gap between a major prize and the jackpot. His ticket contained every white-ball number from the drawing, but the separate Mega Ball did not match. That single number changed the payout while still producing a sum large enough to reshape a household’s finances.
For now, the winner’s public plans remain focused on stability rather than spectacle: reducing mortgage debt and continuing the carpentry work he says he enjoys. The New Jersey Lottery did not identify him by name in the information provided, describing him instead as an Ocean County man who came forward with his wife to claim the prize.
