What Are Your Odds of Winning Mega Millions Prizes?
Considering the size of its jackpot prizes, there's no wonder lottery fans around the world dream of winning US Mega Millions! Check out your chances of making millionaire or even billionaire status with this comprehensive guide to the Mega Millions odds of winning.
Do you want a chance of winning Mega Millions-sized prizes from Down Under? Join theLotter Australia's US MegaLuck draw - an exciting alternative lottery that corresponds with the official draw, including prizes, game format, and of course, odds of winning!
How Do the Mega Millions Odds Work?
A lottery's prize-winning odds are based on how many numbers you must guess and the number range the lottery offers. For instance, Mega Millions requires players to choose 5 main numbers from a range of 1-70 and a single number from a range of 1-25.
This means that even if you’re playing for the biggest Mega Millions jackpot, the odds of winning each prize category will stay the same.
What Factors Can Affect Your Odds of Winning Mega Millions Prizes?
What changes, however, are the chances of the jackpot winnings being split. This is due to the fact that the more people join the draw, the higher the odds that there will be multiple winning tickets.
The popularity of the winning numbers can impact your chances of being the sole winner of a jackpot, as multiple players guessing the same numbers will result in a shared prize. Since 1996, the numbers 31, 17, 46, 20, and 4 have been drawn more frequently than any others. While using these popular numbers may increase your lottery luck, it also raises the risk of having to split the jackpot with other like-minded players.
In 2011, a fascinating case emerged where 41,763 people played the same numbers in the US Mega Millions lottery. These numbers were 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 - the same numbers that a fictional character named Hurley won in the TV show "Lost" in 2004. However, unlike Hurley, these fans only matched four of the numbers and each won a prize worth US$150.
What Are the Odds of Winning Mega Millions Jackpot?
Big jackpots usually have challenging odds to beat, and US Mega Millions is no exception. Players have a 1:302,575,350 chance of matching the top prize, making it slightly tougher to win compared to US Powerball’s odds which are 1:292,201,338.
The second division prize is set at an impressive US$1 million. This can be increased to as high as US$5 million when playing with the Megaplier feature. The odds for this second-place prize drastically differs from those of jackpot, at just 1:12,607,306, while the odds of matching any prize category is 1 in 24.
US Mega Millions has nine prize categories, so even if you don’t score the jackpot prize, you can still come out of the draw a winner!
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1 Prize
|
5+1Mega Ball
|
1:302,575,350
|
|
2 Prize
|
5
|
1:12,607,306
|
|
3 Prize
|
4+1Mega Ball
|
1:931,001
|
|
4 Prize
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4
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1:38,792
|
|
5 Prize
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3+1Mega Ball
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1:14,547
|
|
6 Prize
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3
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1:606
|
|
7 Prize
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2+1Mega Ball
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1:393
|
|
8 Prize
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1+1 Mega Ball
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1:89
|
|
9 Prize
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0+1Mega Ball
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1:37
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Does the Megaplier Feature Impact Your Odds of Winning?
The US Mega Millions Megaplier feature does not affect your chance of matching the jackpot or secondary prizes. The extra Megaplier number from 2-5 is drawn from a separate barrel consisting of 15 balls. Each Megaplier number is assigned a certain amount of balls, which impacts the odds of each multiplier number being selected.
For instance, the odds of matching the 5X ball is 1 in 15, as there is only a single 5X ball in the barrel. On the other hand, the odds of matching a 2X ball are much more in your favour, as there are five of them.
Can You Improve Your Chances of Winning Mega Millions?
While we can’t provide you with a magic spell to turn the odds in your favour, we do have a few tricks to help you to make the most of your Mega Millions ticket!
The first thing you can do is play with a subscription. This ensures that your lucky numbers never miss a win by automatically entering you in every consecutive draw. At theLotter Australia, you can purchase a subscription to US MegaLuck and join every single draw for the opportunity to win the same prizes with the same odds as US Mega Millions!
Another odds-boosting method is to join a syndicate. A lottery syndicate is a group of people who pool their money to purchase multiple tickets in a bid to increase their chances of matching prizes. It’s also a great way to have some fun with your friends, family, or even co-workers! So gather everyone, get playing, and if you have one or more winning tickets, you all get a piece of the prize!
One of the most famous syndicate success stories is that of the Wolverine FFL Club. This group of lottery players from Michigan, won a US$1.05 BILLION jackpot in January 2021. The club members chose to take the lump sum prize worth US$776 million (US$557 million after taxes), netting each participant just under US$140 million.
The last thing you should never forget is that non-jackpot prizes give you the best chance of winning. In every drawing, those secondary prizes can be multiplied between two and five times, so don't forget to add the Megaplier feature if you want to make the most of your US Mega Millions entry, or if you’re playing from Australia, your US MegaLuck ticket!
Try Your Luck at Beating the Odds From Australia!
Aussie lotto players have a chance at winning the same record-breaking prizes as their American counterparts when they play online at theLotter Australia. Our US MegaLuck and US PowerLuck draws correspond with US Mega Millions and US Powerball draws with the same game rules, extraordinary jackpots and prizes, and odds of bringing home the gold!
theLotter Australia customers are not purchasing lottery tickets or participating in lotteries directly. theLotter Australia uses third-party agents to purchase lottery tickets; customers are purchasing for the opportunity to receive monies equivalent to prize winnings.