There’s a laundry list of horror stories about big lottery winners whose golden tickets led to strained family relationships, bankruptcy, prison or even murder.

Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot is $1.22 billion, but Maryland winners could take home much less due to the state’s high lottery tax rate.

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 winning numbers were 3, 7, 37, 49 and 55. The Mega Ball was 6. The jackpot is the fifth-biggest ever in the Mega Millions lotteries.

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,

The winning ticket was sold at Sunshine Food and Gas in Cottonwood, northern California, the California State lottery said.

One Mega Millions player has plenty of dough to ring in the New Year after drawing the winning number. After three months without anyone winning the top prize, a winning ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion was sold in the drawing Friday night.