Fremont Couple Wins $1 Million Playing Mega Millions® with Megaplier®

October 16, 2012 – Gerald and Robin Ritter of Fremont won $1 million playing Nebraska Mega Millions with Megaplier.

Gerald Ritter purchased the winning Mega Millions with Megaplier ticket at Tom’s Beverage Shop, 1869 East 23rd Street in Fremont. The quick pick ticket contained one play with all five of the winning white ball numbers (6, 10, 24, 26, 42) from the October 12 drawing for a $250,000 prize.

Because Ritter added the $1 Megaplier option to his purchase, his $250,000 prize was multiplied by the guaranteed 4X Megaplier number for a total of $1 million. This is the third $1 million Mega Millions prize won in Nebraska since the Nebraska Lottery began offering the game on March 20, 2010.

While claiming the million-dollar prize on October 16, Gerald Ritter told Nebraska Lottery officials that he learned he had won after seeing a story about the winning ticket in the Fremont Tribune newspaper. “I came home and saw the winning numbers in the paper,’” said Ritter. “Then I called my wife at work to tell her the news. It was exciting.” Ritter’s wife, Robin, stated that she encouraged her husband to add the $1 Megaplier feature. “I always buy Megaplier tickets, and I told him he should too, because it increases your prizes,” she said.

The Ritters plan to pay bills and save the rest of their winnings for the future.

The odds of winning $250,000 playing Mega Millions are 1 in 3,904,701. Adding the $1 Megaplier option, which does not affect the odds of winning, gives players a chance at multiplying their non-jackpot prizes two, three, or four times. The overall odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 40.