Mega million is the biggest lottery game in America, and it’s offered in 44 states besides the US virgin Islands and the district of Columbia. It all began in 1996. When Mega Millions was known as the Big game.
Its first drawing ever was on September 6 in 1996, and since then states began participating in the Big Game. It was only a matter of 6 states but after its success more and more states began participating.
In 2002, 6 years after the Big Game began, it was renamed the Mega million as it’s known nowadays. It’s the biggest lottery game right now with the least odds. They’re even smaller than the Powerball.
So how does this game work?
Playing this game is quite easy. And very simple. All you have to do is pick 6 numbers. 5 numbers should be from 1 to 70. They’re called white balls. And another number “the mega ball” which is between 1 and 25 and it’s yellow gold.
If you ever choose all the 6 numbers right then you’ll win the jackpot which is $1.6 billion. It doesn’t matter in which order the numbers are, if the numbers you’ve chosen are the same as the one drawn then you’ve won.
But there is the possibility to win money besides the jackpot if you’ve got some numbers right. There actually nine prizes in Mega Millions, ranging from the jackpot to only $2.
If you’re wondering how? Then here are the conditions:
If you choose everything correctly (5 numbers + mega ball) you’ll be able to win the jackpot of $1.6 billion. If you choose 5 numbers correctly but the mega ball incorrectly then you’ll win $1 million. If you choose 4 numbers correctly and the mega ball incorrectly then you’ll win $500, but if you choose the mega ball correctly too then you’ll win $10,000.
If you choose 3 numbers correctly, without the mega ball then you’ll only win $10, but if you choose the mega ball correctly too then you’ll win $200. If you choose 2 numbers correctly plus the mega ball you’ll win $10. If not then you won’t win anything. If you choose 1 number plus the mega ball correctly you’ll win $4. And lastly, if you only choose the mega ball correctly then you’ll win $2.
How much will it cost you to play?
To play the Mega millions you’ll have to pay tickets for $2 per play. But you can also add the option of “Megaplier” and multiply your winning for the jackpot too if you pay one extra dollar per play.
You can double your winning by two to five times which means if you ever win the jackpot you’ll be a billionaire for life. So that means if you buy both the Mega Million ticket and Megaplier will cost $3.
Megaplier is drawn before each drawing of Mega Millions every Tuesday and Friday. How much your winning will be doubled depends on what ball will be chosen from the 15 balls. If the ball is marked 2X you’ll win by double. If its 3X then your winning will double three times. If it’s 4X then it’s four times. If it’s 5X then they’ll double by five.
So pray that you’ll get 5X. Because there’s only one ball of 5X it has smaller odds of being chosen.
How to choose the numbers
If you want to win the jackpot then you’ll have to choose all 6 numbers correctly. Missing only one means missing the jackpot and missing out the chance of being a billionaire.
First of all go to the store and choose a lottery game’s sheet and start filling it out. If you’re too bored and can’t do it yourself then there’s the easy way of asking the clerk for an “easy pick” ticket. Which means an automated ticket that has already ready numbers that are randomly assigned.
Although if you’re there to win it, then you’re battling with chance, but if you want to raise your odds of winning the Mega Millions then there are to do’s and not-to-do’s.
Avoid easy choices like 1,2,3,4,5,6, they’re obviously chosen by a lot of people and lessen your chance of winning the jackpot.
Avoid multiple numbers like 2,4,6,8,10,12 because it’s an obvious option too and doesn’t help with winning.
Avoid choosing all odd numbers or even numbers, it’s rare for the jackpot to have all odds numbers or all even numbers which means you’ll lessen your chance more if you don’t mix it up.
Choose a mix of high numbers and low numbers, because if you don’t you’ll lessen your chance of winning as well.
Do your research to figure out if there’s a pattern of winning jackpot numbers. If it has a pattern then you’ll have to choose numbers based on that pattern. You can also research which number combination are drawn the least to get rid of options and useless number combination.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions
The odds of winning the Mega Millions are so small, so small you can’t even count them. As It’s been said before, the odds of winning this lottery are less than the Powerball. The Powerball’s odds of winning are 1 in 292 million and the Mega Millions are 1 in 302.6 million.
And that’s a lot of chance involved. That means you have HIGHER chances of losing your money than ever winning. But that doesn’t stop people from playing. Mega Millions used to have higher odds of winning than the Powerball but everything changed after October 2017.
And that’s because they increased the price of tickets, increased the starting of the jackpot, and changed all of the play structure.
What if you win the jackpot?
If you win the jackpot that means you’ll be winning $1.6 billion or even more if you’ve played the megaplier.
There are two choices for checking out your lottery cash, you either take the lump sum which a lot of lottery winners prefer which after taxes etc. you’ll probably end up with half of the amount or less. But it’s still better than nothing.
But if you don’t want taxes to be deducted this much, then you can choose the annuity option, which is the most safer one.
You’ll get paid over a period of 29 years to 30 years where you’ll be able to get the whole $1.6 billion instead of half of it. Why do you get the whole $1.6 billion with the annuity?
That’s because the whole cash made the state benefit of a lot of interest etc.. that you’re left with the whole amount after 30 years.
Winning the jackpot is certainly a dream that a lot of people long to. Anyone who plays the lottery, even for fun, wish there was a 1% chance of them winning. Although the odds are so minimal, the thrill and the mystery is what make people play and rush to buy lottery tickets.
Now even if you ever win the lottery, you’ll have to remember that a lot of people turned broke in a matter of one year or two even with billions in their bank account, and that’s due to poor money management. So if you’re not good with money, then it’s better if you don’t win the lottery at all.
