Mega Millions is a lottery game many people across the country play frequently. However, the odds of winning the jackpot are a staggering 302,575,350 to 1, proving it is a game of chance. Since it is rare to win the jackpot itself, people still play because of the smaller prizes involved.
The next draw for the game is on Friday, and the jackpot currently stands at $57 million! So, for those who like to play, there are some rules and things to understand first.
To play the game, one must choose six numbers from two separate pools for the draw. These are the white balls and the gold balls. Therefore, players choose five numbers between 1 and 70 for the white balls and one number for a gold ball from 1 to 25.
There are nine ways to win a prize in Mega Millions, a numbers game. A ticket costs only $2; one could win their capital back and eight other prizes. One can also multiply their wins by spending an extra $1 to increase their win by two to five times.
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However, this “Megaplier” feature is not available for jackpot prizes. In all mega million states, the 2nd through 9th prizes are fixed, except for California. All prize payouts are based on sales and the number of wins instead.
The first and easiest way to win is through the Mega Ball match. If you match your gold Mega Ball, you automatically get your $2 back. This is a fair chance of 1 in 37. To win $4, you must correctly match the Mega Ball and one extra number. The odds of this happening are 1 to 89.
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Clearly, as the prize increases, the odds decrease significantly. For example, to win $10, the chances are 1 in 693. You must also match your ticket to two numbers and the Mega Ball. You can win $10 by getting three correct numbers without the Mega Ball. These odds are at 606 to 1.
However, to get a more significant prize like $200, the odds skyrocket to a whopping 1 in 14,547. You must match three numbers and the Mega Ball in your ticket to win this. To get a ticket with four numbers without the Mega Ball, the odds double again at 38,792 to 1. However, the prize also doubles at $500, making it a good win in some cases.
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If you’re fortunate enough to get four numbers and the Mega Ball, you win $10,000! This is no easy feat, as the odds are 931,000 to 1. To put this in perspective, the chances of getting struck by lightning are 500,000 to one, and the odds of winning $10,000 at Mega Millions are almost double that.
To win $1 million, you must match the numbers on the five white balls, excluding the Mega Ball. This lucky win means beating a 12,607,306 to 1 chance. To sum it all up, the jackpot is the hardest to win. One must have a ticket that matches all five numbers and the Mega Ball.
With a 302,575,350 to 1 chance, it is not surprising that many have never won the lottery after playing for decades.
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