Woman finds out she won Massachusetts State Lottery $770,000 jackpot prize on her birthday; here is how she is spending the winnings

DORCHESTER, MA (March 5, 2025) – Massachusetts State Lottery has announced the winner of a $770,000 jackpot prize that was at stake in the Massachusetts State Lottery’s Megabucks drawing that took place Wednesday, February 19.

Kathleen Waterman of Warwick, RI, who claimed her prize Monday, March 3 at the Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters in Dorchester, received a one-time payment of $520,442 (before taxes).

Waterman said she has been playing the same Megabucks numbers for over forty years. She plays a combination of numbers that consists of her birthday, as well as those of her husband and four children.

She purchased her winning ticket at Cumberland Farms, 520 Wilbur Ave. in Swansea. The store receives a $7,700 bonus for its sale of this ticket.

Waterman said she found out she had the winning numbers on her birthday. Upon doing so, she recalled saying to herself, “This is a mirage. It can’t be.”

She said she plans on taking care of her grandchildren and investing the winnings.

This is the sixth Megabucks jackpot won since the game was redesigned on November 12, 2023 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.

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.