TRENTON (June 4, 2019) – Kristopher Chrysanthopoulos, a twenty year old student from Oceanport in Monmouth County, opted to get Mega Millions tickets for the May 28th drawing instead of his usual Scratch-Offs tickets, noting that the jackpot of $414 million caught his eye.

The tickets sat, unchecked, in his wallet over the next two days. Kris’ dad invited him to lunch to discuss summer employment options. Along the drive to the restaurant, Kris knew he was about to be lectured on the need to get a summer job. In an attempt to avoid the discussion, Kris figured this was as good a time as any to check the Mega Millions tickets he had in his wallet and hope for the best.

Kris knew the jackpot from that Tuesday’s drawing wasn’t hit, but still compared his ticket to the NJ Lottery app on his phone to check for lower-tier prizes. A quick look down his ticket showed a line that matched five out of the five white balls drawn for the drawing, missing only the Gold Mega Ball. “Dad, I’ve got five numbers!” he shouted.

After stopping the car, his dad checked the numbers and asked if it was a prank before being reassured that it was definitely real. The two stopped in the nearest Lottery retailer they could find to validate the ticket and check the prize. It was hard to contain their excitement when they found out the prize was $1,000,000!

Kristopher said he would like to take his family on a trip with the money and then put the remainder into savings for his future. No word yet on whether Kris will still seek summer employment. His lucky ticket was purchased at The Mart on 590 Shrewsbury Ave., Tinton Falls in Monmouth County.

Full quality photo available upon request.