A single Megabucks ticket sold at a Holyoke convenience store matched all six numbers drawn Monday, September 7, and turned into the largest jackpot in the history of the Massachusetts lottery game. The winning numbers — 21-28-31-34-40-44 — were sold at King Mart, located at 494 Westfield Road, ending a jackpot streak that had been rolling over since early 2025.
A $29.71 Million Prize Decades in the Making
The jackpot totaled $29.71 million, according to CBS News Boston. The still-unidentified ticket holder now has a choice to make: take the prize as an annuity paid out over 20 years, or opt for a lump-sum cash payout valued at $19.6 million before taxes. That lump-sum figure underscores a common point of confusion around advertised lottery jackpots, which reflect total gross payouts stretched over time rather than the immediate cash value available to a winner.
At $29.71 million, the drawing broke a record that had stood for nearly 41 years. Per Fall River Reporter, the previous high was a $21.71 million jackpot from October 16, 1985, which had been split among eight winners back then. Megabucks itself dates back to November 1982, meaning this single ticket now sits atop more than four decades of the game's history.
Rule Changes Set the Stage for a Record Run
The outlet's report also ties the jackpot's rapid growth to a November 2023 overhaul of the game by the Massachusetts State Lottery. That overhaul doubled ticket prices from $1 to $2, shrank the number pool from 49 to 44 numbers, and added a Monday drawing to the weekly schedule. Reducing the number pool improved overall odds of hitting a prize, while the price hike helped swell prize pools faster than under the old rules — a dynamic Hoodline previously tracked as the jackpot climbed toward $17.15 million in May.
This isn't King Mart's first brush with lottery fortune. The Westfield Road store also sold a $15 million Diamond Deluxe scratch ticket in January 2025, a prize that was ultimately claimed by a Boston-based nominee trust, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery. That earlier win also earned King Mart a $50,000 retailer bonus.
Where This Win Ranks Among Massachusetts Jackpots
Before Holyoke's win, the largest Megabucks jackpot ever awarded to a single ticket was $16.35 million, sold in Ware on September 10, 2022, back when the game operated under the name Megabucks Doubler, the Fall River Reporter report notes. The new Holyoke prize more than doubles that single-ticket mark.
Statewide, the $29.71 million ticket ranks as the ninth-largest lottery prize of any game ever sold in Massachusetts, and it stands as the state's largest individual lottery win since 2023, per the CBS News Boston report. The all-time state record remains a $758.7 million Powerball ticket sold in Chicopee back in 2017.
Taxes, Deadlines, and the Question of Anonymity
Whoever holds the winning ticket will not walk away with the full advertised sum. Massachusetts automatically withholds 24% for federal income tax and 5% for state income tax upfront on lottery prizes over $5,000, according to Catalina Structured Funding. State surtaxes on income above $1.1 million push the top marginal state tax rate to 9% once returns are filed, meaning the withholdings taken at the time of payout will not cover the winner's full tax obligation.
The clock is also ticking. Under Massachusetts State Lottery rules, the ticket holder has exactly one calendar year from the September 7 draw date to come forward and claim the prize, the same CBS News Boston report states. Unclaimed lottery funds in Massachusetts are eventually returned to the state to support local municipal aid. It remains an open question whether the winner will claim the prize under their own name or through a nominee trust, a privacy practice that was used by the winner of King Mart's earlier $15 million scratch ticket.
The win also lands amid a broader pattern of lottery spending in the state. Massachusetts residents lead the nation in per-capita lottery spending, averaging roughly $763 per person annually compared with the national average of $223, according to a figure reported by CBS Boston's Facebook page. Scratch tickets account for roughly 70% of the state lottery's overall sales.
