A New Jersey lottery player's holiday season just got a whole lot brighter. Nearly 9 months after a $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot ticket was sold at a ShopRite in Neptune Township, the ticketholder has finally come forward.

The $1.13 billion jackpot is the fifth highest in the game's nearly 30-year history, according to the New Jersey Lottery.

Lottery officials say the winner has opted to remain anonymous. The winner, who chose the cash option, will receive $537.5 million before state and federal taxes.

The ticket drawn at the Neptune store matched the winning numbers of 07, 11, 22, 29 and 38 as well as the Gold Mega Ball number 04 and the multiplier number of 02.

And now the Mega Millions jackpot is once again approaching $1 billion.

Pavan Patel’s Pop’s Liquors on West Sylvania Avenue is less than a mile away from the now-famous billion-dollar ticket-selling Neptune Township ShopRite.

“Everybody is out, they want to do the pools. They are buying in large sums,” said Patel.

The odds of another winning ticket sold in the same community are astronomically small, but that’s not stopping players like Joe Murano from hoping for a dream.

“It would be great, pay off my daughter’s tuition. It would be very nice,” said Murano.

“I was really hoping it was my father because he shops there all the time, apparently it wasn’t,” said Greg LaFrance, of Wall Township.

The next Mega Millions drawing is scheduled for 11 p.m. Christmas Eve so check your stocking stuffers and check your numbers!