Massachusetts couple finally hit big State Lottery win after playing same numbers in multiple games for 40 years

It took a while, several decades in fact, but a Massachusetts couple finally hit big money playing the State Lottery.

According to the Massachusetts State Lottery, Fredric Norian of Bridgewater is the winner of a $1.74 million jackpot prize that was at stake in the Massachusetts State Lottery’s Megabucks drawing that took place Monday, December 18.

Norian, who claimed his prize at Mass Lottery headquarters in Dorchester on Wednesday, January 3, chose the cash option on his prize and received a one-time payment of $1,228,365 (before taxes). He said that he and his wife have been playing the same numbers in multiple draw games for 40 years. He added that they have selected an entire new set of numbers to play moving forward. As for what he may do with his winnings, Norian said that he is considering making some renovations to their kitchen.

The ticket was purchased at Roche Bros. supermarket located at Campus Plaza, Route 18 in Bridgewater. The store receives a 17,400 bonus for its sale of this ticket.

This is the first Megabucks jackpot won since the game was redesigned November 12 to bring more value to players, with better odds of winning, a higher average jackpot, and double the winnings for all non-jackpot prize tiers. Monday drawings were added to the traditional lineup of Wednesday and Saturday drawings and the price of a ticket went from $1 to $2.

By reducing the numbers to choose from in the game from 49 to 44, the odds of winning the jackpot and all other prize tiers improved significantly. The odds of winning the jackpot went from 1 in 13,983,826 to 1 in 7,059,052.