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.

"The jackpot is worth an estimated $1.22 billion ($549.7 million cash); it’s the fifth-largest Mega Millions jackpot in history, and the seventh Mega Millions jackpot greater than $1 billion. The winning ticket was sold in Cottonwood, California."

If someone wins the Christmas Eve Mega Millions grand prize, it ill be the largest jackpot ever won in the month of December.