Mega Millions lottery to improve the odds of winning and boost jackpot size
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Mega Millions announced it will debut a new version of its national lottery game after the final drawing of its current jackpot scheduled on April 4.
The new version of its game, which is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, will consist of a higher priced ticket, bigger prizes at every non-jackpot prize tier, better odds to win the jackpot, better odds overall, larger starting jackpots and faster-growing jackpots.
Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, which administers the lottery, said in a news release the new changes will increase the pot of non-jackpot winners by two to 10 times more than the current system.
“Beyond big jackpots, players told us they want bigger non-jackpot prizes and that’s exactly what this new game delivers,” Johnston said. “Players who had won $2 in the old game will now take home $10, $15, $20, $25 or $50 under this game. Those who had won $500 under the old rules will now take home $1,000; $1,500; $2,000; $2,500 or $5,000 in this new game.”
Here’s a breakdown of the new prize structure for Mega Millions, scheduled to have its first drawing April 8 at 8 p.m. Pacific:
Odds of winning are better
The new version of Mega Millions will now have 24 gold Mega Balls instead of 25 used to pick the winning numbers. By removing a gold ball, the odds of winning any prize will change from 1:24 to 1:23.
Removing one of the gold Mega Balls will also increase the odds of winning the jackpot from 1:290,472,336 from 1:302,575,350.
The California Lottery announces the identity of the player who won the $1.2-billion Mega Million ticket in December.
Large, faster-growing and more frequent jackpots
The smallest jackpot for Mega Millions will now reset to $50 million, instead of $20 million. The jackpot is also expected to increase at a faster rate, reaching higher dollar amounts more frequently.
The Mega Million Consortium estimates the average jackpot win will rise from $450 million to $800 million with the new version.
Win more than the cost to play
The current version of Mega Millions has the minimum prize on a winning ticket and the cost to play set at $2. The new game will increase the price to play to $5 but it will also set a minimum of $10 on any winning ticket.
The prize range will also change from $2 to $1 million to $10 to $10 million. A non-jackpot winning ticket will also increase its base prize by 2, 3, 4, 5 to 10 times automatically.
Mega Millions’ new version will retire the one-dollar “Megaplier” add-on feature available in certain jurisdictions and replace it with a built-in multiplier.
The current jackpot will roll over into the next game, unless someone wins it on April 4.
