Pennsylvania is one state in the US that offers a plethora of gambling activities. Players have access to the lottery, casino and poker games as well as sports betting and soon to be launched online casino and poker games. Just this week, one lucky player of the state lottery earned a massive prize thanks to choosing the special Megaplier add on.
Big Winner
On Tuesday, a drawing took place where a winning ticket was found to have hit all five white balls. The yellow mega ball was not matched. The winner has yet to come forward, but it is known that the ticket was sold at a supermarket in Allegheny County. The ticket matched the numbers 10/50/55/56/58 and guaranteed a prize of $1 million.
Thankfully for the player, $1 was spent to play the Megaplier. With the win, the Tuesday drawing applied a 5x Megaplier which gave the player 5x the win! Since the Mega Millions jackpot was not won, it will roll over to the drawing for this Friday. The jackpot is estimated to be worth around $393 million.
The big jackpot prize of $5 million is one of the largest ever awarded in the history of the state’s lottery, especially considering the prize is not via the jackpot. Another similar prize was won in January wen a player hit five white balls with a megaplier and earned a $4 million prize.
During the drawing, over 38,500 tickets won a prize. Many of those tickets included the Megaplier. The $1 upcharge seems like a good bet considering how much you win if you manage to get the right matches.
Online Gaming in Pennsylvania
Along with the traditional lottery, Pennsylvania also offers online lottery gaming. The state launched several scratch off games online at the end of May 2018. Players have taken to the online lottery games well, helping to bring additional revenues to the state.
By this July, the state will hopefully begin offering online poker and casino gaming. A tentative date has been set for July 15th for the online gaming options to launch. If the sites launch in a coordinated effort as planned, the revenues should really start climbing.
Players have been waiting since late 2017 to see online gaming come to fruition in the state. A large gaming package was approved in December 2017 that approved several changes to the gambling landscape including online gaming.
In 2018, the year was spent setting up rules and regulations as well as licensing operators. Now that 2019 has arrived, scheduling has begun that will hopefully result in a launch. All eyes are on the state with lawmakers across the nation ready to see how the gambling industry performs.
If Pennsylvania is successful, it might be a tipping point that helps other states begin to pass legislation and get started in the online gambling industry. It would be wonderful for many other states to join in and offer legalized and regulated online gambling services.
