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Conway Woman Claims $750,000 Mega Millions Prize

One ticket sold in Missouri for the March 2 Mega Millions drawing matched all five white-ball numbers to qualify for a $250,000 prize.  By adding the Megaplier® option to her ticket, Wilma Elam of Conway multiplied that prize into $750,000.  Elam purchased the winning ticket at Massey’s Conoco, 153600 Route 66, in Phillipsburg.  She used Quick Pick to select the winning numbers:  9, 12, 47, 48 and 56.  If Elam had selected the Megaball® number of 25, she would have won the $112 million jackpot.  But by adding the Megaplier® option, she did increase the prize by a multiple of three, which was the Megaplier® number for that drawing. 
   
"We usually go to Lebanon on Wednesday afternoons," explained Elam.  "On the way back, we stopped, and I got two Mega Millions tickets." 
   
Elam became the first player in Missouri to win a second-level prize in Mega Millions and the first to increase her winnings by selecting the Megaplier®.  While she’s won smaller Missouri Lottery prizes before, this win was definitely special for Elam and her husband, Kenny. 
   
"It’s a very exciting thing to happen to us," she said. 
   
Elam found out about the win after someone at the store told her that a winning ticket was sold there. 
   
"So I drove up and scanned my ticket, and it was a winner.  I just kind of stood there.  I was shocked," recalled Elam. 
                       
Plans for the money include a new barn for Kenny, new shoes for Wilma, and the couple indicated that they would use some of the money to help their two sons. 

Mega Millions is a multi-lottery Numbers Game, with jackpots that start at $12 million.  Mega Millions plays very similar to Powerball, with a Megaplier® option that operates like the Power Play option in Powerball, with a few differences.  Mega Millions drawings happen twice each week on Tuesday and Friday nights.