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.
Since the price now is $5 , I suggest people just buy 1 game for each draw to prove they are wrong for increasing the price.
P.U.! :Wut Stinx?
Answer ..... $5 MM!!!!
Need I say anymore?!
The Shag
C'ya
Here's a question I thought I'd throw out there to lotteryposters: what would cause a "merger" between PB and MM faster ... a successful MM or a MM flop?
Hey on the topic of merger ..... what would you keep/ discard from each game in forming a merged game? Ex. 2 x or 3 x a week ....... etc.
Not a big deal for me. While I will never play new MM I will just keep playing my 3 other games (CA Superlotto, CA Fantasy 5 & PB)
I am not playing mega millions anymore, good luck to people that do. I'll stick to occasional powerball
I need some big retirement money, I will be playing now to Win. Good luck to all the players.
My main issue with this new Mega Million is that the starting jackpot isn't $100M. The next issue is that of automatic assignment of multipliers 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X,10X. They should eliminate 2X because it is a ripoff. Most of the the tickets issued are going to be 2X anyway statistically speaking. Just to try it out, I went out and bought 13 tickets. I purposely chose the same number for some of these tickets. Here are the results.
1 ticket 10X
1 ticket 5X
1 ticket 4X
3 tickets 3X
7 tickets 2X
Honestly, I don't think I like this, but time will tell.
What is the deal with the multiplier?
Details please!
What does it mean when you say there are more x2's than the other four numbers ?
Isn't it five choices? 2 3 4 5 and 10 ?
Explain!
Thats what I like about Lucky for Life.
All prize tiers are more than the $2 ticket price.
So when you win, you make a small profit.
I don't play the jackpot games on a regular basis because of the high odds of actually hitting it. Usually it's just a spur of the moment decision while I'm getting my P3/P4 tickets no matter what the jackpot is. I'll continue doing that.
I like the idea of winning more money on the smaller prizes because that's what most of us are going to win anyway. A jackpot win is nice for sure, but I would be perfectly happy just to win a $2 million second prize. And I don't think anyone here is gonna turn down $2 million either if they were to hit it. Good Luck!!!
Nothing about my statement is not based on facts. Chances of winning second prizes have not changed from the previous version of the game which is what I talked about. To claim 3X multiplier is the average without any sales data is ignorant at best and quite ironic considering you just accused me of being inaccurate. Also, bolster likes? What is this, high school?! 🤣
Here are the complete prizes.
https://www.mdlottery.com/games/mega-millions/prize-structure/#:~:text=The%20approximate%20overall%20probability%20of,multiplier%20is%201%20in%208.
yup, this is exactly what I was saying as well. You practically paid more than twice the amount in the new iteration of the game to win the same second chance prizes (assuming the 2X works out).
I'm guessing most people who said they would never buy a ticket at $5... will actually buy a ticket, myself included. The thing is I can only afford to buy 1 ticket at this price and maybe not every drawing.
The amounts on both Lottery are supposed to do with the Jesuit order. 47 and 54
Huh?????
You had to be completely naive, or just stupid to play Just the Jackpot. That game option was just a money making racket.
What on earth are you talking about? The average 3x multiplier is mathematics, not based on sales data. Please don't confuse people with your lack of knowledge.
No idea what you're referring to with "likes". You sound like you're the one stuck in high school. You're acting as if I'm just spitballing it here. Do you realize I've been running this business for 25 years, and you might benefit from listening instead of just throwing a bunch of your feelings against the wall?
mega millions sucks now, unless you win 😂 duh.
now that mega +powerball is 54 million all a rip off
The only Good News is that am excited by the New mega millions will play all jackpots for now this is the honeymoon phase so as to how l feel about it next month is another story at least for now let's all dream Big 🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈 So far l spent $100 two for five draws
Yep. I already did.
I'm buying two today!
Predictions if people stop playing MM.
1) PB will have more frequent but smaller jackpots due to big increase in players and more combinations being played.
2) Eventually people will say they want bigger jackpots.
3) To provide bigger jackpots PB will either increase the game matrix or raise ticket prices or both.
I think that's a good thing, because now we are able to see what 3 draws a week does for PB and what the new pricing and game structure does for MM.
On Sunday April 13th will be a good day to see what one week does to both jackpots. Then the next Sunday and the next until one is won.
If PB stays ahead of MM that will say something about MM sales and if MM stays ahead of PB, that too will say something about the new pricing.
My thoughts
Who cares what the average multiplier is? Remember how averages work - you could have 9 bums in a room with Bill Gates and the average wealth would be $15 Billion each even though 9 of them are worth 0.
I'd rather know the median and mode for the multiplier... that would tell you much more. I have a feeling the mode is 2 for this one.
Average multiplier means that over time you will average a 3x multiplier. Not too hard to understand, and the info that most people want to know. I acknowledge that other people want to know other statistics about the multiplier motivated by trying to show one thing or another, but I am confident that most people want the average to be able to understand how their prizes will pay out over the long term. (Perhaps for budgetary purposes.)
"mega millions sucks now,"
Correction,
MM sucks even MOOE naah, cauze it haz alwayz sucked..
Droppin 1 Megaball numba from itz 25 ball Matrix IZZ NOT worth a $3. Ticket increase..!!
It may be true that Droppin 1 Megaball numba from itz 25 ball Matrix IZZ NOT worth a $3. Ticket increase..!!
But I think having a 10x and all prizes being above break even is worth it.
At a minimum you will double your bet when you win.
My thoughts.
I bought three tickets. I picked my own numbers on one and got 3x. I bought two quick picks with 2x.
Tomorrow is 47 and number 4754 secret Society numbers
PB+MM merger: new name = bananas royalle
Ticket price will be a set 3 dollars and 33 cents each .... multiplier/powerplay included. Three tickets for 10 dollars.
Draws will be 3 days a week one week and 4 days a week the next .... every other day is a drawing.
Annuity reduced from 29 years to 24.
Only the $$$$cash$$$$ value will be advertised.
2x gone ... Say hello to 20x! 3 x 4 x 5 x 10 x 20 x.
Part of the official rules of the new game is that lotteryposters from usamega are not allowed to participate.
P.U.: Hoo Kut Duh Cheez?
I got one more quick pick after hitting this morning on 2 pick 4 back pairs $100. My quick pick has x10.
What does it look like you show you played?
What on earth are YOU yapping about? Who cares what you do? Your fragile ego aside, I'm perfectly capable of simple math. most tickets sold are 2X for second prize wins. The only thing that's improved is the chance to win a jackpot. Chance of winning every other prize remains the same which is why I've said since the beginning. Not sure what's so hard about such simple statements, and you'd have to resort to name calling. Laughable. Get over yourself!
We DON'T want PB & MM to merge, ever. If they do, the odds of winning the jackpot will be something like 500 million to 1, with a matrix 5/96 + 1/51.
"At a minimum you will double your bet when you win"
I hear ya,.. BUT,
how much would ya have spent , by the time of IF you'd win?..!! 
Remember, the Stats for the 70n pool hazn't changed,
only the BBN 🎱 pool..and the 
Xzorbitant price of a ticket..
-Stat$talker
If they had gone to 4.00 a ticket with some expanded formula for secondary prizes I believe there would not have been this much feedback. Something about that 5.00 a ticket that has crossed a threshold most believe shouldn't have been crossed.
Ok let's be realistic here. Currently in Canada 🇨🇦 Lotto Max is currently $5 per ticket and Jackpot starts at $10 millions and ends at $80 millions . USA mega million $5 per ticket starts at $50 million ends in Billions . So let's understand what all this is all about. If Mega millions pulls this off Guess what Mega millions will become the greatest Lottery in the World 🌎. 🤠🍀🙏 Once it reaches $1,000,000,000 Players from Canada will cross the Boarder to buy tickets in Michigan and Minnesota. So you all need to understand this is about being the King 🤴 of the World Lottery. Also Another reason for this is something else people are not paying attention to which is Game security. Before to Buy all possible combinations of 300 million numbers may cost you $600 million now to buy all possible combinations will cost you $1,500,000,000 that is $1.5 billion. Also before five numbers creates about $5 million to $10 million in new Millionaires. Now $5 ticket with 10X Multiplier will create $50 million to $100 million in second prizes easily 🤠🍀
You get three sets of numbers for that 5.00 up there. Plus no taxes. Canadians sneer at our lotteries. You think everyone wants to win a billion dollars. They don't. 80 million would do you just fine.
* On a lighter note: Picked up 2 MM tickets this am, and the store clerk was going on about having to explain the price change to at least 2 customers who initially refused to pay the extra $3 per ticket. He said he never gets this sort of push back when it comes to selling cigarettes, those customers he says never leave the store empty handed. Oh well..
Well l hear you on the other hand let's wait and see what happens tomorrow Night. How much it goes up if no winners and how many people win second and third price . So let's be patient and first see what happens if l win even $100 am happy 😊
It's also about $3.50 in USD not $5
I am not sure how much one would have spent.
But again that's how the game is, it's not something assured or something to be approached with any certainty.
It's a game of chance, always use caution 🤔
I thought this thru some more and MM really dressed up their plate and left us a few morsels:
Less sales (I'm just guessing 50% less) equals less 5 of 6 millionaires. Less 5 of 6 millionaires means less chance of a 10x millionaire since there's a 3.1% chance of the 10x being the multiplier on any ticket. 5X is only slightly less than before (6.3% vs 6.7%). 4x is about the same, but 3x took a dive from 40% to 31% and 2x is the king now- 46.9,% vs 33.3 % before. In other words, you were incented to buy the Megaplier before but now, well they had to tilt the wallet back in their favor.
Dr. Megafeelgood wants you to be happy, so all he will tell you is how much more you'll win with the built-in Megaplier. Think about how many MM tickets you've cashed since the last price increase. Is a built-in Megaplier gonna help recoup your losses? Perhaps, but only if you hit 4 of 5 plus the Megaball or 5 of 5. But Dr.Megafeelgood has the extra dollar he charged for your Megaplier, another extra dollar to help cover any unforeseen payouts due to the Megaplier, AND ANOTHER DOLLAR THAT'S JUST HANGING AROUND FOR THE PARTY. Pure profit.
So, don't let Dr.Megafeelgood insult your intelligence- wait until the jackpot hits $1.5 billion before you dive in the waters. In the meantime, instead of dumping that money into Powerball (your next BWF...best worst friend), spend it on your state's big game or -better yet- take the kids out for ice cream.
"they increase ticket price by 150% but only improved jackpot odds by 4% "
So don't be one of the fools that pays 150% more for a slightly better chance at the relatively small early jackpots. One average we'll be seeing one jackpot winner for every 290 million tickets they sell instead of one for every 302 million tickets, but for every ticket sold there will be close to twice as much money for the jackpot. The result is that the average jackpot will be almost twice as big, and you should have about twice as many chances to play for 300, 500, or 750 million dollar as with the old game. You just have to decide if you want t start playing at some minimum value and wait for the people with a gambling problem to build it to that point.
"Most of the the tickets issued are going to be 2X anyway statistically speaking."
Do you understand how averages work?
"I went out and bought 13 tickets. ... Here are the results. [snip result]
Your average multiplier is a hair over 3.2, so you did better than the overall average.
"Isn't it five choices? 2 3 4 5 and 10 ? "
A 10x multiplier will pay out 5 times as much as 2x, and one of each would mean an average payout of 6x. The game average is 3x so bigger multipliers are less frequent.
"To claim 3X multiplier is the average without any sales data is ignorant "
The ignorance is your failure to understand grade school math. The average of the multiplier on all tickets is a fixed function of the chances of getting any particular multiplier. It's no different than knowing that if you flip a coin there's a 50% chance of getting heads before you flip it.
" PB will have more frequent but smaller jackpots due to big increase in players and more combinations being played."
If more people play PB we'll see more frequent jackpot winners but there will be more money going into the prize pool. The average jackpot is determined by the odds and how much of each ticket goes towards the jackpot, so the average jackpot won't change.
"you could have 9 bums in a room with Bill Gates "
Do you not understand the law of large numbers or not understand how analogies work? About half of the time you'll get the 2x but you'll have slightly more than 50% chance of getting 3x or more. The only problem with the new megaplier is that you're forced to play it. The chances for each megaplier is pretty much the same as it was, and you have a slightly better chance of winning any of the n+1 prizes because of the reduction in mega balls.
Don't forget the exchange rate. That $5 Canadian is about $3.50 here. And everything costs more in Canada to fund all of the government programs. So, realistically they're paying around $2 U.S.
Just remember, since they are not using a mechanical device, the Megaplier is no longer random. It is now a rigged system that will yield the desired results, regardless of sales data. The updated official rules state that (on average)out of 31 tickets, there will be: one 10x, two 5x, three 4x, ten 3x, and fifteen 2x. That makes the average Megaplier 2.96. To me, that makes the 10x a joke since it could very realistically be multiple years before someone hits the 2nd prize of 5 of 5 numbers along with a 10x Megaplier. With the possible exception being the first couple of draws, which will probably be "fluffed up" with an abnormal amount of tickets printed with the 10x Megaplier. Similar to how they always seem to plant plenty of books full of winners on the first week of new scratch offs. Bottom line is, it's a lottery game aka government crime and we're all getting played.
The security thing makes sense, but the MUSL rules specifically prohibit a single entity from purchasing all possible combos. Before taxes, the jackpot would have to be over $2.3B before a group could break even. I don't think that's a concern anymore.
Just remember, since they are not using a mechanical device, the Megaplier is no longer random and was previously slightly weighted so that 3x was the dominant Megaplier. It is now a rigged system that will yield the desired results, regardless of sales data. The updated official rules state that (on average)out of 31 tickets, there will be: one 10x, two 5x, four 4x, ten 3x, and fifteen 2x. That makes the average Megaplier 3.00
"It's a game of chance, always use caution"
It'z their Game of Ripp-Off,.. Alwayz uze Common $centz,..
Don't Playit..!!
NUTHIN
would send a moe HEARD message to'em..
Hi!
I am a little confused...
If the jackpot on 4/4/25 was $43M and new Jackpot starts at $50M... shouldn't the jackpot for 4/8/25 say $93M AND whatever rollover amount was added?
(Just want a better understanding on how they are doing this. And Thanks in advance to anyone who answers 🤗)
I was just looking at the jackpot calculation documents on the Texas lottery website. It has the estimated rollover jackpot as 72M
But it says estimated sales for tonights drawing is $25,047,000. I haven't bought my ticket for tonight yet and I'm sure a lot of other people haven't either. is the estimated sales based off of previous weeks?
I initially thought they intended it that way too but apparently it only resets to 50M after this jackpot is won instead of adding 50M to the amount that rolled over.
Explain the multiplier please!
How many 10s 5s 4s 3s 2s are there in the "system" from which the "computer" chooses?
Shouldn't there be 5 "balls" for 5 possible multiplier numbers? Each with a 20% chance of being picked?
And on the other side .... how is the multiplier distributed to each ticket upon purchase? Is it random or otherwise? Or is it stacked against the ticket holder?
I dunno!
The Shag
Yeah if they were smart they would have added the 50 mil to the current pot or at least the difference between the "old" starting amt. and the new starting amt which would be 30 million more than it is now.
Either would have given the current game a needed big-time jolt as both PB and MM are essentially tied at the moment.
the multiplier has 32 theoretical "balls."
1 of them is 10x
2 of them are 5x
4 of them are 4x
10 of them are 3x
15 of them are 2x
the chance of getting 2x is 15/32 which works out to 1 in 2.13 like the chart says. if you were nuts and bought a bunch of lines, you'd expect about half to have the 2x multiplier. it is random. for each line you buy the terminal randomly picks one of the 32 imaginary balls.
Thanx Brock!
Now I know how they choose the multiplier for each drawing ..... how does the lottery terminal assign each multiplier per ticket ....just the five possibilities? Anotherwords, are the odds even for me getting a ticket with a ten multiplier as it is a two multiplier?
Thanx
ShagE
unfortunately, brah, we are much more likely to get the 2x multiplier than the 10x multiplier. the terminal uses a random number generator program like the one that makes quick picks. but whereas with quick picks all numbers are equally likely to be picked, with the multiplier it's set up so that the 2x is more likely to be picked.
if you go out now and waste $100 on 20 tickets, the most likely scenario is that about half of them will have the 2x multiplier, about a third will have 3x, and very few if any will have 10x.
Sorry to be so dense ... If I happen to get the megaball ...... and the multiplier drawn is 2x but I have a 10 x ..... than I'm s#@t out of luck right?
How much do I win?
ShagE
they don't conduct a separate drawing for the megaplier any more. now it's just the machine that prints your tickets also gives you a multiplier for every line you buy, and for every line it's random. so if you matched only the megaball on one line, and you just so happened to have "10x" on that line, you would get $50.
i got this image from a tx lottery video. see how each line has its own multiplier? i never bought the megaplier under the old format so it was a little confusing for me at first too.
Thanks Brock if it weren't for your patient response to my questions I wouldn't have found out about all this until the jackpot reaches 1/3 to 1/2 a billion when I will enter into the game.
That ticket sealed the deal over my doubts!
ShagE
I bought (2) QP's from Publix. "It's 5 dollars" rolled off her tongue. I got 2X on both lines. I'm fine with that. Good luck everyone
Ok here we go with 3x multiplier on my first buy.
It's reassuring to see that Todd buys QP tickets.
I thought I was the only crazy one who does that 🤣🤣
My one QP ticket is a 3x too.
Good luck on the draw.
It'z their Game of Ripp-Off,.. Alwayz uze Common $centz,..
Don't Playit..!!
Everything in this life is a choice - to play or not to play is a choice.
I hope you make the best choices 😁
Picking your own numbers can be stressful ..... that's why we quikpic. Youre not alone ..... I guess there's three of us that don't pick our own numbers.
The ShagE
Admittedly, the computer didn't do such a hot job for me tonight.
That is interesting. I haven't tried the game yet, but might do so today.
I had only planned on playing if the jackpot got high, but may play other times if the mood strikes me.
Todd, why don't you play MADDOG's MM Challenge with your ticket numbers ?
Show us how it's done.
If I only had the chance. I haven't been able to do proper numbers work in my personal time in years. It just takes so much time to run everything. Last night I was up literally all night with these Mega Millions changes, grabbed an hour or two of sleep when the sun was coming up, and then back on it again. Lottery Post was pretty straight-forward to get changed up for the new game format, but holy mackerel it's really tough making everything work on USA Mega because of the level of detail required, as well as the need to keep all the numerous old drawing formats working too.
PB and MM Summary.
Both Jackpots were at 54M on Sunday.
PB Monday draw.
Winnings paid out - $ 2,371,605.
Current Jackpot - $65M.
MM Tuesday draw.
Winnings paid out - $ 4,327,171.
Current Jackpot - $72M.
MM paid out more than PB in winnings and MM is currently ahead.
The extra PB draw on Wednesday will definitely have an effect on the race.
Will see how it goes by Sunday.
I matched one number, there is hope 🤣
Your work is much appreciated!
I just bought one and got a 2X multiplier. The lady at the store told me the tickets have been selling and one customer bought 5. At least I know if I win I will come out ahead.
Who knows, maybe Friday will be my lucky day.