There are 9 ways to win one of eight prizes in Mega Millions. The minimal Jackpot starts at $40,000,000 and rises until it won. The second big prize starts at $250,000.
How to Play Mega Millions Online
- Go to one of online ticket purchasing services, TheLotter for example. Choose your lucky numbers: 5 different "white" numbers from 1 to 70, and 1 Mega Ball "yellow" number from 1 to 25.
- You may choose a QuickPick ticket instead of the regular Mega Millions ticket. In this case, the computer will randomly choose numbers for you.
- You may fill out one ticket by hand and use QP for the other ticket to compare the results.
- Every Mega Millions ticket costs $3.50.
All transactions for Mega Millions lottery tickets are final and cannot be canceled or changed after the ticket purchased.
MegaPlier Option
MegaPlier option may increase the secondary tier prizes in several times, but it doesn’t affect the jackpot. MegaPlier is an extra ball and an extra draw, the MegaPlier ball can increase in 2, 3, 4 and even 5 times your prize.
You may choose and purchase the MegaPlier ball only while purchasing the ticket, no later. For example, you purchased the ticket and the additional MegaPlier option and guessed the 5 main numbers: it means the second-tier prize of 1 million. If MegaPlier draw shows X5, then the prize be five times more, $5.000.000!
Mega Millions Payouts
The Mega Millions Jackpot winner can choose one of two ways to receive the prize:
- Annual payments for 26 years and the whole jackpot sum;
- The instant cash out of the prize and about 50% of the jackpot amount depending on the current interest rates.
The winner has 60 days to determine the cash-out method. After that period, it would be chosen for you automatically: you will receive annual-scheduled payments for 26 years.
Mega Millions Odds and Prize Table
| Match | Mega | Odds | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | 1 in 302,575,350 | Jackpot |
| 5 | 0 | 1 in 12,607,306 | ~ $250,000* |
| 4 | 1 | 1 in 931,001 | ~ $10,000* |
| 4 | 0 | 1 in 38,792 | ~ $150* |
| 3 | 1 | 1 in 14,547 | ~ $150* |
| 2 | 1 | 1 in 606 | ~ $10* |
| 3 | 0 | 1 in 693 | ~ $7* |
| 1 | 1 | 1 in 89 | ~ $3* |
| 0 | 1 | 1 in 37 | ~ $2* |
* The estimated amount of the winnings is indicated. The final size of the prize is determined by results of the drawing and depends on the number of sold and won tickets.
Top Mega Millions Jackpots
For 6 years, the Mega Millions lottery hold the record with its fantastic $656 million jackpot, won in 2012. It was the time the lottery was the most popular in the world, the huge jackpot made the best promotion. January 2016 the huge Powerball jackpot broke the record with its 1.58 billion dollars!
Top 10 Mega Millions jackpots:
| Place | Date | Sum | Winners |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 Mar 2012 | $656,000,000 | 3 |
| 2 | 17 Dec 2013 | $648,000,000 | 2 |
| 3 | 08 Jul 2016 | $536,000,000 | 1 |
| 4 | 18 Mar 2014 | $414,000,000 | 2 |
| 5 | 06 Mar 2007 | $390,000,000 | 2 |
| 6 | 04 Jan 2011 | $380,000,000 | 2 |
| 7 | 28 Aug 2009 | $336,000,000 | 2 |
| 8 | 31 Aug 2007 | $330,000,000 | 4 |
| 9 | 04 Nov 2014 | $326,000,000 | 1 |
| 10 | 25 Mar 2011 | $319,000,000 | 1 |
Mega Millions History and Origin
Initially, the lottery was named Big Game, and it was launched back in August 1996. The first lottery draw was held on September 6, 1996. Residents of six states could play it.
Over the next couple of years, the lottery was actively developing and becoming more popular so that in 1998 another draw started on Tuesdays. At the same time, the pool of numbers increased, and it became possible to cash out the prize won.
New Jersey joined the lottery May 1999. In 2002 the lottery was re-branded to Mega Millions. Two more states joined the lottery, New York and Ohio. Thus, since then nine states played Mega Millions.
In January 2010, Mega Millions signed the historic agreement with Powerball, according to which players were able to play both lotteries at the same time. Also, thanks to the agreement, the number of states in which Mega Millions were now held increased up to 43. The lottery tickets were now on sale in the Virgin Islands and in Washington.
In March 2012, Mega Million became the record holder for the largest jackpot in the world — $656 million. Three winners from Maryland, Kansas, and Illinois shared the largest at the time the jackpot.
In October 2013, the lottery tickets got an additional MegaPlier option. The chances of winning increased and the jackpots became even more grandiose.
In November 2017, the game format was changed, the main 5 numbers should now be chosen from the pool of 70 (it was 1/75 before), the special Megaball ball is determined from the range from 1 to 25 (the former format was 1/15). Thus, the new formula for the game is the following: 1/70 + 1/25.
The initial jackpot changed from 15 to 40 million dollars. The second-tier prizes are also increased in several times. The ticket prices have increased too, but the odds to win a second-tier prize are great, while all other awards, including the jackpot, are still not easy to win.
Taxes on Lottery Winnings
If you win over $599, you have to pay federal income tax at the rate of 25%, and the state regular tax — 3.75%.
Taxes are automatically withheld directly from the winnings while they are cashed out. Therefore, all winnings in the lottery over $599 will be credited to the prize account minus the above-mentioned federal and state taxes 28.75%.
Good luck!
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