A man had to step away from a holiday party to make sure a Christmas gift from his friend — a lottery ticket — was really a winner. The friend gifted two lottery tickets to a married couple at an annual holiday party shortly before Christmas, according to a Dec. 26 news release from the Maryland Lottery.

A trip to the liquor store ended with someone winning an intoxicating amount of money in the Florida Lottery, and the big news came just in time for Christmas. The Fantasy 5 evening drawing was held Saturday, Dec. 21, and the winning numbers were 1-7-11-18-30, lottery officials said.

The Mega Millions jackpot rose to $1.22 billion after no one managed to hit all six numbers on Christmas Eve. The Friday night drawing comes with a cash option of $549.7 million. If it's won, it would be the fifth-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history,

It’s been a busy month for lottery players. The Mega Millions jackpot now stands at a $1.22 billion ahead of a Dec. 27 drawing, after a Christmas Eve drawing failed to yield a winner. That makes it the largest such prize for either of the two big multistate lottery games — Mega Millions and Powerball — in the holiday-filled month of December,