Beverly Man Hits Big With $2 Million Megabucks Jackpot

BEVERLY, MA — A Beverly man may be on the move after hitting a Megabucks jackpot worth nearly $2 million.

Thomas Groleau had the winning numbers in the April 21 jackpot and went to Massachusetts State Lottery Headquarters in Dorchester on Tuesday to claim his one-time payment of $1,333,705 (before taxes). The full jackpot paid out over 20 years would have been worth $1.97 million.

Groleau said he plans on buying a new home with his winnings.

His winning ticket was purchased at Players Cafe, 950 Hyde Park Ave. in Hyde Park. The store receives a $19,700 bonus for its sale of this ticket.

This is the seventh Megabucks jackpot won since the game was redesigned in 2023 to bring more value to players, with better odds of winning, a higher average jackpot, and double the winnings for all non-jackpot prize tiers.

Monday drawings were added to the traditional lineup of Wednesday and Saturday drawings.

By reducing the numbers to choose from in the game from 49 to 44, the odds of winning the jackpot and all other prize tiers improved significantly. The odds of winning the jackpot went from 1 in 13,983,826 to 1 in 7,059,052.

Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)