Exciting adjustments are on the cards for one of the biggest lottery entities currently in operation. The popular Mega Millions lottery undergoes some significant changes for the last draw of this month on Tuesday 31 October. Lottery players will love the new system which offers a bigger jackpot and an increased chance of winning prizes.
In 2016 the US Powerball smashed the record for the largest US lottery game jackpot total, formerly held by the MegaMillions. Now the MegaMillions is hitting back.
Spectacular minimum jackpot
If you’re a regular player you’ll be counting down the days to the end of the month. Friday 27th October is the last draw that will be held under the current rules. As soon as that draw is done, the rules changes come into effect. Most striking is the increase of the minimum lottery jackpot to $40-Million. This is quite a jump from the current minimum of only $15M. No matter at what stage you win the jackpot with your winning lottery ticket, you’re guaranteed a very large sum.
With this very large starting jackpot, MegaMillions may witness record breaking jackpots forming quicker than before. In 2012 MegaMillions paid out a huge jackpot of $656M. This record was broken by Powerball in 2016, when a mind-blowing $1.58 Billon lottery jackpot was shared out to the to three lucky winners who picked the correct numbers. With the MegaMillions rules changes, we could start to see the billion-dollar MegaMilllions jackpots.
Changing up options
The MegaMillions team brings more excitement to the game by changing your number options. For the main numbers you’ll have five fewer options to pick from. While at the moment you need to choose five main numbers from 1 to 75, from the MegaMillions draw for Tuesday 31 October you will only need to select five main numbers from 1 to 70.
At the same time, the Megaball range increases by 10 numbers. While you currently choose one megaball from the numbers 1 to 15, you will be able to pick your megaball from 1 up to 25.
Bigger smaller prizes
These changes slightly lowers the odds of winning the jackpot, but your chances of winning smaller prizes increase considerably. What's more, the amounts that you can win for the lower-level prizes will also increase as follows:
- Matching 4 main numbers plus the Mega Ball will double your winnings from $5000 to $10 000
- Matching 3 main numbers plus the Mega Ball will win you $200 - a big jump up from $50
- Matching 3 main numbers, or 2 main numbers plus the Mega Ball will win you $10, up from $5
- Matching 1 main number plus the Mega Ball will now win you $4 instead of $2
- Matching just the Mega Ball will now win you $2 instead of $1
That’s worth taking a new look at how many lottery tickets you purchase every week.
Ticket price adjustment
In order to compete with the US Powerball for winnings, the operators of the MegaMillions will have also had to double the cost of the tickets, bringing the price in line with what is being charged for the US Powerball. This increased price does bring you more possibilities of winning so it’s worth it to still invest in your weekly tickets.
An exciting new chapter is coming for MegaMillions players. Your MegaMillions numbers will put you in line for huge cash prizes and you’ll win more often than ever before. Start preparing your lists of lucky numbers, and play lotto online today.
