Ethermac|Michigan woman had 'no idea' she won $2M from historic Mega Millions jackpot

A Michigan woman had no idea she won $2 million after she matched five white balls in the Aug. 4 Mega Million drawing.

Rachel Frye,Ethermac 36, of Freeland, Michigan, recently checked her Michigan Lottery account and couldn't believe it was $2 million pending.

"I play Mega Millions online pretty often," said Frye. "When I woke up the morning after the drawing, I checked my lottery account on my phone. When I saw that I had a pending balance of $2 million, all I could think was: 'That's not right!'"

Frye matched the five white balls 11-30-45-52-56 but missed the Mega Ball. Thanks to the Megaplier, her $1 million prize was multiplied to $2 million. If she would've guessed all six balls, she would have won $1.55 billion.

"I closed my app and checked my email," Frye said. "When I saw the email from lottery saying I had won a prize and to check my account, I knew it must be real! I rolled over and started shaking my husband to wake him up and stuck my phone in his face screaming 'Look at this! Look at this!'"

The victorious ticket was purchased on MichiganLottery.com's online platform.

Frye claimed her prize at the Michigan Lottery headquarters and confidently plans to allocate the funds towards paying off her student loans, creating college accounts for her children, and beefing up savings.

"Winning this prize is incredible and gives my family some financial comfort," Frye said.

How to play Mega Millions

Tickets to Mega Millions cost $2 per play. There are nine total ways to win a prize.

To play, pick five numbers from 1 to 70 and one Mega Ball number from 1 to 25. You can choose Easy Pick or Quick Pick to have the terminal randomly pick numbers for you. You win the jackpot by matching all six winning numbers in the drawing.

What is the Megaplier?

Most states offer the Megaplier feature, which increases non-jackpot prizes by two, three, four and five times.

It costs an additional $1 per play. Before each regular Mega Millions drawing, the Megaplier is drawn. From a pool of 15 balls, five are marked with "2X," three with "4X" and one with "5X."

What is the largest Mega Millions jackpot ever?

1. $1.558 billion estimated in the current 2023 lottery
2. $1.537 billion from one winning ticket in South Carolina in October 2018.
3. $1.348 billion from one winning ticket in Maine in January 2023.
4. $1.337 billion from one winning ticket in Illinois in July 2022.
5. $1.05 billion from one winning ticket in Michigan in January 2021.