One last drawing tonight before game overhaul
By Kate Northrop
Tonight will mark the last and final Mega Millions multi-state game drawing before ticket prices increase from $2 to $5 and the major anticipated game changes take effect.
The Mega Millions multi-state game overhaul is just around the corner, with increased ticket prices, larger starting jackpots, and improved odds.
The new version of the game will take over upon the completion of the drawing on Friday, April 4, 2025, with the first drawing of the new version set for Tuesday, April 8 at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Of course, the biggest change that's causing all the buzz is the ticket price increase from $2 to $5 per play — but what's the tradeoff? Here are all the upcoming changes that players can expect next week:
Goodbye Megaplier, hello multiplier
While players could previously add the Megaplier option to their ticket for an extra $1 per play, the optional Megaplier feature is set to be discontinued. Instead, a multiplier number will automatically be included in every play. Each line on a ticket will be randomly assigned a multiplier of 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, or 10x for a chance to increase non-jackpot prize winnings, up to $10 million.
"Beyond big jackpots, players told us they want bigger non-jackpot prizes, and that's exactly what this new game delivers," Mega Millions Consortium Lead Director Joshua Johnston said in a press release. "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. Non-jackpot prizes at every level are going up by 2x to 10x. That's the kind of value the new Mega Millions will deliver to our players at every single drawing."
Californians, who are not used to multiplier features due to the state's rules on pari-mutuel payouts, will have their own iteration of the automatic multiplier. The California Lottery adopted unique rule changes during a January commission meeting to allow for the game change while accommodating the pari-mutual payout basis, Lottery Deputy Director of Public Affairs and Communications Carolyn Becker explained to Lottery Post. Becker also advised that these updated regulations do not go into effect until 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time on April 5 with the first sales of the enhanced Mega Millions game.
California allocates roughly 50% of Mega Millions ticket sales to the prize pool each draw, with specific percentages of that prize pool allocated to each prize level. Each multiplier is given a corresponding "share value" that equals the multiplier number. For example, a 10x equals 10 shares, a 5x equals 5 shares, etc.
For each prize tier, the total winning shares are added up, and the prize tier's percentage allocation is divided by the total number of winning shares to get the base prize amount for that tier. Then, each individual winner's base prize amount is multiplied by their respective multiplier number to determine their own prize.
Increased starting jackpot, grows faster
It's a positive change that players have been asking for since the pandemic. In the old game format, the jackpot resets to $20 million every time it is won. Going forward, the jackpot amount will now reset to $50 million.
With the larger starting jackpot and increased ticket price, lottery officials expect jackpots to reach higher dollar amounts more frequently and at a much faster pace. The Mega Millions Consortium estimates that the average jackpot win in the new game will be more than $800 million versus approximately $450 million in the game's current form.
If a jackpot is not won, the minimum increase between rollovers will be $10 million, Mega Millions national spokesman Dan Miller informed Lottery Post. However, this is subject to change. The Mega Millions Consortium will review how sales perform under the new number matrix for the first few weeks and may reconsider the appropriate increase amount between draws.
Improved odds
Speaking of number matrices, overall odds at winning any prize will improve to 1 in 23, from 1 in 24 in the previous version. The odds at winning the jackpot will also improve from about 1 in 302.57 million to 1 in 290.47 million. These odds can be attributed to the removal of one gold Mega Ball from the number matrix, bringing the number of Mega Balls down from 25 to 24.
For comparison, the overall odds of winning any prize in the Powerball multi-state game are about 1 in 24.9, while the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are about 1 in 292.2 million.
Bigger base prize amounts
The lowest-tier prize amount will increase from $2 to $5, but with the automatically embedded Megaplier option, the lowest-possible prize a player can win will actually range anywhere from $10 to $50, depending on the multiplier number assigned to the play.
This also means the minimum prize of $10 now outweighs the $5 cost to play, as opposed to winning $2 on a $2 ticket.
The second-lowest prize amount will also increase from $4 to $7, meaning that tier will award prizes ranging from $14 to $70, also depending on the multiplier.
The remainder of the prize tiers will not change but are technically still higher thanks to the embedded multiplier. For example, the second-tier prize will remain $1 million, but the multiplier will automatically bump it up to anywhere from $2 million to $10 million.
Just the Jackpot discontinued
In certain states, players had access to a feature called Just the Jackpot, which allowed players to play for only the jackpot. This $3 option gave two plays for the jackpot, but the ticket would not be eligible for any other prize levels.
The Just the Jackpot feature will be retired after the drawing on April 5, 2025.
Other things to note
If there is no jackpot winner on April 4, 2025, the jackpot will roll into the new game version and continue to grow from ticket sales at the new price point, the Mega Millions Consortium advised.
Players who have a winning ticket that was issued for a drawing prior to the game changes may still claim their prize within their jurisdiction's claims deadlines, but the payout will be based on the prize matrix in effect during the time of drawing for their ticket, regardless of when the prize is claimed.
Originally launched as "The Big Game" in 1996, Mega Millions officially adopted its current namesake in 2002 and held its first drawing on May 17, 2002, producing an Illinois jackpot winner of $28 million that same night.
This is the second price adjustment in the game's history since the first Mega Millions ticket was sold over 20 years ago. The price of a ticket went up from $1 to $2 in 2017.
The game boasts a total of seven jackpot wins exceeding $1 billion, each win taking place in a different state:
- Florida — $1.602 billion, Aug. 8, 2023
- South Carolina — $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018
- Maine — $1.348 billion, Jan. 13, 2023
- Illinois — $1.337 billion, July 29, 2022
- California — $1.269 billion, Dec. 27, 2024
- New Jersey — $1.128 billion, March 26, 2024
- Michigan — $1.050 billion, Jan. 22, 2021
More than 1,200 Mega Millions players have become millionaires since the last game update in 2017, according to the Consortium, averaging 3 new millionaires per week.
The last Mega Millions drawing for the game in its current format will take place on Friday, April 4 at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time for a jackpot of $43 million. The new game version will go into effect immediately after the drawing concludes, with the first drawing of the new version on Tuesday, April 8.
Mega Millions is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each and will increase to $5 each following Friday night's draw.
The Mega Millions winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.
I'll be playing tonight, then good bye Mega Millions!!
I want to see the layout , I will wait maybe
not buying any $5 tickets till it reaches at least $650M cash
But then you will be missing out on the increased secondary payouts. They want you to play every draw that is why they increased them. Most are just going to flee to Power Ball when they see that 5.00 price tag next week.
I don't like to say "never", but for the past couple months I've sworn off Texas Lotto, and and I haven't played MM all year. I'm not sure when or if I'll play them again.
you can swallow that fool-aid if you wish, but not me
It will be wild if most players move their mega budgets to powerball and pb starts getting huge jackpots faster while mm grows at a snails pace.
i think mega may have made a mistake with this, the price of everything is going up many people aren't going to double what they're spending for non essential.
Only thing interesting is being able to win $10 million dollars for 5 numbers.
Hope it get to 3 Billion dollars for me to jump in for $5
Ummm, correction needed...PB overall odds are just under 1/25.
I don't trust the system to assign a multiplier. The system will always give a fixed end result whereas the mechanical balls have a somewhat random aspect.
Not to worry, since I won't see another MM ticket until the jackpot hits $1.5B. I won't subsidize their greed when a third weekly drawing would have given them the same (or better) revenue than the ticket cost increase. I'm guessing PB wouldn't budget on their M-W-Sa drawing schedule, leaving MM with the two bad options of either a)drawings on consecutive days, or b) a Sunday draw.
Now PB will follow suit even if they just amp up the lower prizes and charge an extra buck. Eventually, PB tickets will be $5 each as well, with the explanation being that they "are just keeping up with the new standard set by MM".
When all is said and done, the only people able to comfortably buy a big-game ticket will be the one-percenters that can already buy $50 and $100 scratchers and never miss the money. Leaving people like me that live on a fixed income (which is really more of a fixed outcome) waiting for the new $2 jackpot game- POORBALL!
l want to be among the first customers to buy a ticket so this means l can buy quick pick after 10 pm tonight automated service SWEEEEET news flash l will tell you my first strategy am going to Buy quick pick for ten draws after 10 pm tonight so l can relax and get paid every week but my Mega ball won't be quick pick but 24 since no more 25 that kills me better for me to get my $50 investment back in 10 Advance draw for $50 Yummy 😁🤠 Besides l won $1000 in Kentucky the other day pick3 number was 774 . So l absolutely have nothing to fear dropping $50 tonight Mega millions. Last night l drop $40 on eight $5 scratch off in Kentucky on 7777 scratch got $11 win 🎊🎉👍🤠 Like l said before if I win Big in 2025 am committed to giving away $20,000 each to 20 Lottery post members and it will be based on your Screenname and your Avatar have already selected lots of Lottery post Legends Love you guys both my enemies and my friends we all share one Dream Lottery 🎉🎊
Yeah, it's 1 in 24.9. The story is fixed. The 1 in 38 that was previously in the story is the odds of matching just the Powerball, not the overall odds of winning any prize.
Good riddance to Just the Jackpot...one of the worst options ever IMHO.
I'm ready to win!
If Return > 1, then it makes sense to play when the jackpot gets over X amount (keep in mind the infinite-play law-of-large-numbers assumption of the return calculation, which is not true with a typical number of plays). X > $USD 1.2 billion for the old Megamillions rules, which takes into account US taxes.
MM made the change to put more money in their pockets, and less in the player's pockets. I will be boycotting MM because of the combination of ridiculously low odds and high ticket cost. Guestimating that the new jackpot amount for return>1 is > USD$1.6 billion.
I got five tickets for today's MM drawing 🙊.
I used the MM website to generate the numbers 🤣.
So technically it's a QP, only that I let them do it for me, lol
I will play one ticket on 8th and will decide if I want to play both weekly drawings or once a week.
I feel that if no one wins the jackpot today, the prize will go so high because of all who are playing for the last time today and buying more tickets than they would normally buy - like me 🤣🤣.
Good luck to all.
Good luck 🍀 to you nobody else is playing tonight on a dead Game only you 🤠😝🌪️🙏
MM will be like, well, well, no one played only this one player - let's just give them the jackpot 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I will be back with my winning ticket 😁
This actually might be a great move. I won $800 & $2000 off MM in WA State. With the new MM, it could be $80k and $200k. I won $300 off PB in DC and $500 off PB in WA State. Now, I'm in back TX so I look forward to winning BIG!!!
" All things considered- a single winning ticket is still cheaper than a happy meal."
Ooh wow, you have had some great wins.
I think the most I have won is $16 😔😔😔😔
I'm playing 5 lines tonight. I normally buy 1 line until the cash jackpot hits $200million then I buy an extra ticket for every $100million of cash value. I decided to buy 5 lines tonight to give the old MegaMillions a good send off and who knows, maybe be the first jackpot winner in Louisiana!
If I do play again, it will only be when jackpots hit say $500million or so.
Good luck to everyone who is playing tonight.
That's an interesting idea. Instead of buying on Powerball players could get 2. I was also considering buying extra Louisiana Lotto or Easy 5 tickets with the money I won't be spending on MegaMillions.
I think MegaMillions sales are probably going to drop because of the price increase. There's a store near my office I buy tickets from and the lady behind the counter told me several of her customers say when the price goes up they are going to quit playing. I may play, but only when the jackpot gets very high.
I have 5 lines for tonight and I'm hoping for the best.
What happened to the 40M minimum jackpot after the last price increased ?
Lookout Californians going to get richer.
" It's because CA loves winning, if that's a bad thing- l apologize, l truly do!
I am planning a summer trip to California - everybody watch out 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Corporations are greedy
How appropriate a send-off to old mm with 25 as the megaball. Bye #25 ....... Miss you!
I'll reiterate what I've said in the past and what others have stated will be there purchasing habits concerning $5 mm: I'm in at 500 mil for sure with 2 tickets. If I do decide on occasion to buy when it reaches lower than 500 but higher than 250 it will be for one ticket for sure.
Now if it hits 750 .... 3 tickets
1.0 bil ........ 4 tickets
2.0 bil ........ 8 tickets
I guess you could say I'm playing for the jackpot only and a sizable one at that.
Boy things have sure changed from when powerballmania was an 90 mil jackpot that warranted Mom and I to cross state lines to spend 90 dollars on 90 tickets. Granted the whole roundtrip will always be a good memory for me.
At $5 a go ..... discipline is the name of the game for me.
So no, I won't buy a ticket for Tuesdays jackpot but, I hope others will buy to build up momentum and monster jackpots to a level where I deem it right to enter into the fun.
Am I a greedy sob ????
Yes, and I don't apologize one bit!
MM can play there little game with us thinking us as pushovers but I'm not buying into it until they show me the mega $$$.
Note: if this change is a big flop can you say MERGER with PB? I can, merger with PB!
OMG l was right . Above l said 25 kills me all the time and l was happy No more 25 So take a guess what Final number Came today to Boo Me it's 25 OMG 😄😁👍
11. 28. 35. 37. 69. 25
"Eventually, PB tickets will be $5 each as well, with the explanation being that they "are just keeping up with the new standard set by MM"."
Naaah, they're playing it safe, to see how deadly MM'z dumb decizion wuz..
When you
peer thru all da Smoke n Mirrorz", you'll see We Playaz are being ripped...ea State iz re-selling the same loozin numberz to us, X'z the total of participating Statez..!!
I'm Boycotting it..
az advized from DOSE
Dept Of Stat$tistical Efficiency
-Stat$talker
Funny how they're already preparing us for an eventual reduction of the $50 mil- new draw figure.
Maybe there won't be the $$$ invested by players to provide for that amount but it would be more than made up for on the other "mania" end when these jackpots grow to astonishing levels. If they don't keep the 50 mil thingy .....it's really cheap in there part.
I'm with you - I'm out!! Playing 3 lines twice a week was $6 but that increased to $12 per week a few years ago. And the cash pay outs went down. Now those 3 lines will be $30 per week. No thanks - I'm done,
I like your second paragraph. I've said for some time now they don't have to rig the drawings when it's easier to rig the quick picks and harder to detect.
MegaMillions has signed their own death certificate by raising their tickets to $5. I don't know of anyone who will be paying that price. I predict a massive decline in ticket sales due to this change. IMO, do not buy these tickets anymore.
Decline yes until it reaches over $800 mil n thatz when sales will jump they expecting jkpots over $3bil
i was playing 2 sets will move 1 ova to PB since they took away the #25
Count me out. Nothing compelling about spending 5 bucks per line.
Bought 5 lines and only matched 1 number. I won't be playing again until the jackpot gets big enough.
Life is about being optimistic and real . I have learned my lesson the Hard way l use to think like all of you that l will play when jackpot reaches $300 million so guest what at $50 million my numbers came and l could have won four numbers with red ball and power play missed a $250,000 win so Don't be like me waiting for big jackpot. Number two you get what you pay for if you normally buy $2 mega million you get $2 mega million if you normally buy $3 mega million you get $3 mega millions. Now is $5 mega million and you are going to get $5 mega million . Tomorrow it could be $10 mega million so Stop Whining and be optimistic. Number three if you say you Don't want to pay $5 Mega millions l understand you but you have an option take your $2 and join a lottery Pool 🤠🙏🏆
Well I'm done with mega millions. I'll just play Powerball from now on
I'm going against the grain here. I'll play. I don't like break-even prizes, so the new multiplied prizes are good to me. It's like buying a pricey scratch-off game rather than a cheap one.
Respect, of course, for everyone who feels differently. But I do like that there are lots of price points and prize structures available in the lottery market now.
The jackpot increase for Tues is roughly the same as before. Maybe they are playing it safe to see how sales are, but yet they were confident people will pay $5...lol
The lotteries sometimes lose money when someone hits the starting jackpot, so no surprises that they did not go wild with the first one. All makes sense to me.
Huh?, this isn't a starting jackpot and no one won. I was just comparing the jackpot amount from Friday to this Tuesday to past jackpot amounts of similar values for the same days. If $5 is supposed to grow the jackpot faster this Tuesdays increase doesn't really show that. But again they are probably being conservative not knowing what sales are going to be.
It's a complicated subject with many working parts. I could be writing for an hour about it, so suffice to say that it is completely expected to be the level it is right now, and increases from draw-to-draw should be somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million per rollover until it gets a bit higher. It's all a guess at this point because it's a brand new price point.
I haven't play MM in months, but to those that are swearing off MM, here's an idea. If you always liked MM, just play Friday draws. The jackpot is always highest on Fridays unless it's won on Tuesday.
I don't play Texas Lotto, or PB every draw. I only play on Saturdays when the jackpot is highest. The money I would have played earlier in the week I can play on Saturday, or just cut back.
Just a thought. Good luck to those that play whatever game y'all like!
This game has been really bad since the 2013 changes. This latest version is truly awful. I was considering playing when the cash was $1 Billion but now I'm considering not playing anymore at all.
The whole point of this game is the Jackpot with many people playing hoping to hit second.
Over the years the second place prizes have become few and far between.
Top that with the forced multiplier if you buy a ticket and I can lay this game to rest.
I'm not sure if I will do a rare slip up but the Mega Millions is now on my "fvck it" list.
l just Bought My new mega millions today in Florida was impressed. Bought two tickets on one slip and it gave me a X3 multiplier on top number and X5 multiplier on second number even though they both on one ticket so am very happy with the multiplier cool 😎
I matched a few but won zero 🤣
I had considered only playing MegaMillions once a week instead of twice. At that price, I think I'll wait until it gets high or just play occasionally.
Do not play this newly revised scam of a game. I purchased 10 tickets for $50 just to see how it's structured. Out of the 10 tickets only one has 3x multiplier and one has 4X multiplier. The rest were all 2X multipliers effectively reducing any kind of payout to only 2X. This is a joke considering they more than doubled the price. I'm utterly baffled this is how they want this game to be. I play mostly to win second prizes as the jackpot is undreamable and they came up with a way to make it even harder while raising prices. The only odds that have improved are the chances of matching the mega ball which is meaningless unless it's a jackpot. It is Unbelievable and a total scam. Best to avoid to this silly game and let it crash and burn.
I bought my first MM ticket today, only one play, and I got the 3X.
What I like about that is I know what I would win should I match 5 balls 🤣
Am waiting for my $3,000,000 on Tuesday patiently 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
nothing bur greed they say you got a better chance of winning where wasnt any better at 2 dollars a game!
It's easier to win the jackpot now, not harder.
Agreed, they increase ticket price by 150% but only improved jackpot odds by 4%. The odds to win ANY prize also only increased 4%. Too bad it wasn't an April fools joke!
I did the same experiment l bought two tickets from one store both gave me X2 so l tried another store bought Six tickets two were X2 and the remaining four tickets l was in shock got X3 and X4 and X5 and X10. The best part my X10 was not a Quick pick l was Sooooo Happy 😃 Smiling now like l won $10,000,000 🤠🍀🍀🍀🍀🌪️
Jackpot chance of wining going from 1 in 300+ million to 1 in 290 million isn't exactly "easier" and more importantly the chances of winning second prizes still remains exactly the same. Moreover, the multiplier (more tickets having 2X) essentially makes it less value for players than the previous iteration of the game when price is taken into consideration.
Eliminating the 2X all together would make the game far more attractive. The 2X essentially is now even more expensive than it ever was despite the chances of winning remaining identical. The previous version would have a multiplier option for an extra $1 dollars for a total of $3 dollars per ticket. Now, the chances of wining second prize remains the same while the price increases to $5. It's insanity. Only the illusion of getting 4,5 or 10X will attract players for now while the game sells far far more 2X tickets for a relatively high price.
I was pointing out that you posted a factually untrue statement. Which you were.
I also disagree with your multiplier statement. Even though there are more 2x's than anything, the average multiplier is 3x.
It is a game of higher stakes now, but easier to win a big prize. If you don't like it, you have lots of company in that regard. But no need to make incorrect statements to bolster your dislike.