Tickets for updated Mega Millions game on sale Saturday

Comment #104

TheOtherOne — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 13:11:49 GMT

I haven't noticed if it's affecting others rate of play but as the jp grows more people will certainly take notice.

And wow, is that jp going to grow!

When I pick my numbers it's easy to see how crazy these odds of winning the big one are!

It sucks that right when the jackpot gets to 200 mill, my job is OUTSOURCED--so no office pool for me for the time-being

Comment #103

jacal5 — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 12:54:26 GMT

I wonder if MM sales have gone down since the changes. My friends and I don't play MM any longer, and I have observed people walking out of stores without purchasing tickets after they look at the new card with 75 numbers and realize their chances to win are virtually zero. I allocate my MM money to Powerball now. Whenever MM hits 500 mil I will buy one ticket,

Comment #102

jamella724 — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 09:36:29 GMT

This changes will definitely make the players more excited on winning the jackpot prize. It's really nice that there will be better odds in winning prizes. I'd better purchase my ticket to get a chance of winning huge amount of jackpot prize too

Comment #101

THRIFTY — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 18:29:17 GMT

I did not spend any money on the first drawing of the new Mega Millions game matrix.

Comment #100

ressuccess — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 18:16:23 GMT

Good luck to the people participating in the new matrix.

Comment #99

zirabamuzaale — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 03:36:53 GMT

Do not put your eggs in one basket. I play both the national/international lottos such as The Powerball amd The Megamillions plus The Fantasy 5 (which is locally synchronized to each state) and The Arizona Pick. So despite the so-called better of winning state lotteries, I have yet to win anything in The Pick since July of last year. This is in contra-distinction to The Powerball, Megamillions, and Fantasy 5 lotto games in which I have won a couple of dollars

Comment #98

Jill34786 — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:36:35 GMT

Neither winner played the megaplier but I have no doubt they will still be content with their win.

Comment #97

Jill34786 — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 13:08:56 GMT

Noticed 2 players hit the first 5 numbers. I was pretty surprised to see this. Wonder if either one had the megaplier for a $5million prize

Comment #96

BuyLow — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 11:30:12 GMT

I hit 3 of 5 had and the megaplier for a $25.00 win.

Comment #95

Saylorgirl — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 11:12:20 GMT

I matched the 14 golden number as well! Now I just need five other numbers to go with it

Comment #94

NearNewBrit — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 07:54:12 GMT

Oct 22, 2013:

2-3-19-52-71, and the Mega Ball is 14. The Megaplier number is 5.

Drawing host John Crow SAID the Megaplier was 5 prior to the numbers being drawn; there was no graphic on the screen for this. Usually, there is.

Drawing host John Crow said 17 when the ball came out of the globe, but said 71 when recapping the numbers at the conclusion of the drawing. He never said 'sorry' or 'correction.' I think his brain couldn't wrap itself around the idea that there could be a 71 in th... [ More ]

Comment #93

KY Floyd — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 07:41:41 GMT

so apparently not much of an improvement when looked at this way.

No matter how you look at it it's not much of an improvement when the chances of winning are still only 1 in 129 million, but everybody who understands the difference between 1 and 2 should still be able to figure out that's it doubles your odds of winning. It also doubles your chances of winning and the probability that you will win.

It's really that simple, but there are several people here who could be the poster boy for... [ More ]

Comment #92

KY Floyd — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 07:39:42 GMT

If you wanted a quart of milk and could only find pint containers you'd be completely flummoxed, wouldn't you

Comment #91

mikeintexas — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 03:23:10 GMT

I did too! Five bucks for a $2 ticket! (I guess, what w/ the X5 multiplier?)

I was out earlier buying my Powerball ticket and decided to get a QP f/ the Mega Millions. I got 3 scratch tickets and won $10 on a two dollar ticket, $2 on another and was scratching the third one when I scratched off $20,000 - then another $20,000 - and started scratching the third spot and uncovered $20...and that's what it was. Was a rush until then, though.

Comment #90

Jill34786 — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 03:17:23 GMT

I agree that there are many state lotteries that do indeed offer better odds and jackpots that are much greater than the 2nd tier prizes from PB and MM. There is nothing wrong with someone dreaming about winning a lottery jackpot but there are many who are obsessed that winning the jackpot will be the answer to all their problems.

I truly believe it is unhealthy to rely on a big lottery jackpot to fulfill one's dreams but that doesn't mean I object to anyone spending a few bucks for the possi... [ More ]

Comment #89

zirabamuzaale — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 03:15:15 GMT

I have successfully matched the golden number of 14 in the new matrix. Maybe that signifies a good omen in this new matrix for me

Comment #88

RJOh — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 01:41:47 GMT

With all the state lotteries with better odds of being won and having jackpots that many times exceed $50M, there's no reason for anyone, even LP members to give up their dream of winning a lottery jackpot someday.

Comment #87

Jill34786 — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 00:27:11 GMT

Prior to the matrix change, 96% of all prizes was $7 or under. This game as well as PB has and always will be a suckers bet. Some put too much emphasis that their time will come. Chances are someone here on LP will win a 2nd tier prize during their lifetime but the odds of anyone here winning either PB or the MM jackpot is extremely unlikely. I hope I'm wrong but the odds are against all of us.

Comment #86

adamc224 — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 00:05:09 GMT

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My head, My Head!!!!!!!!! It hurts... There is smoke coming out of my ears

Comment #85

kapla — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 23:48:58 GMT

Good point, payout is NOT worth playing the game. And Powerball is too expensive per game......

Comment #84

Jon D — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:31:56 GMT

Yep, you got it. The middle prizes are always skew(er)ed with more percentage of sales going to top and bottom prizes. This is typical with almost all lotto style games: rob from the middle class prizes, give to the top and bottom. Rob Peter to pay Paul, no way around it.

The new MM is even more extreme than the previous one. Just look at the percentages of the tiers:

Prizes Odds 1 in Prize Tier Percent

$84,350,000 258,890,850 5 + Mega 32.58%

$1,000,000 18,492,204 5 of 5 5.41

Comment #83

EdG1955 — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:00:04 GMT

One caveat about buying 2 tickets vs 1: The preceding arguments don't apply if both tickets contain the same numbers.

Comment #82

Hermanus104 — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 21:58:43 GMT

OK...

Match 4 numbers + the Mega Ball: $5,000 (odds are 1 in 739,688) Match 4 numbers: $500 (odds are 1 in 52,835) Match 3 numbers + the Mega Ball: $50 (odds are 1 in 10,720)

Lower prize winners still getting robbed. If I wanted $5,000, I'd play the 4-ball. Much easier to win. If I wanted $500, I'd play the 3-ball. Much easier to win.

Comment #81

Jon D — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 18:23:15 GMT

Both views are right, but the confusion comes in the proper terminology: Odds versus Probability

Buying 1 MM ticket has probability of 1 in 258,890,850 and 2 tickets is 2 chances so yes, equivalent to 1 in 129,445,425.

But similarly, 1 MM ticket has odds of 1:258,890,849 and 2 tickets is 2:258,890,848 so apparently not much of an improvement when looked at this way.

I wrote about this before but basic summary is below:

Probability is: ( chances for ) / ( total chances )

Odds is

Comment #80

LottoMetro — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 17:31:24 GMT

This is a very old and misunderstood argument.

Odds are added with multiple tickets; thus, 1:258,890,850 times 2 equals 1:129,445,425. Note that this only applies to tickets in the same drawing.

Let me give an example of a smaller set of combinations:

A lottery draws 1 number from 1,2,3,4,5,6. Your chances of winning are therefore 1 in 6 or 1/6 = ~0.1667

If you buy 2 tickets, you are buying 2 numbers. Your chances of winning are then 2 in 6 or 1/3 = ~0.3333

~0.1667 * 2 = ~0.3333

Comment #79

Jill34786 — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 17:01:47 GMT

The annuity payout is spread out over 30 years instead of 26 which is why the cash value has gone down on MM. The annuity payments are a bit more heavily back end loaded than PB.

Comment #78

JADELottery — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 11:03:54 GMT

There, all 75 and 15 covered in 15 lines.

02 10 15 27 28 - 10

42 47 49 52 64 - 07

09 18 21 34 44 - 09

43 45 60 63 69 - 11

04 08 11 32 70 - 02

05 06 38 41 72 - 15

14 16 23 31 66 - 13

07 13 39 54 68 - 06

26 29 30 56 75 - 01

12 20 36 40 61 - 08

03 37 48 50 65 - 12

33 46 55 58 73 - 14

17 19 57 59 67 - 03

01 24 25 62 71 - 05

22 35 51 53 74 - 04

Comment #77

wings6847 — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 10:41:48 GMT

Did anyone notice in all the hoopla of the changes to the Megamillions game the reduced winning percentage of the jackpot paid out? At one time it was 65%. Now it is only 55%. Powerball for years paid out less than Megamillions, but with the new Megamillions rules Powerball now pays a larger percentage to the jackpot winner.

Comment #76

RJOh — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 08:15:30 GMT

This is the part in the article where I noticed immediately the NEW odds of winning various prizes that are listed are incorrect. How can the Odds of matching ONLY the mega Ball be 1 in 21, if there are only15 Mega Balls to choose from?? That would be impossbile. Obviously if I play one game and pick one mega Ball out of the 15 that are avaiable to choose from, my odds of correctly matching ONLY THE MEGA BALL ARE 1 in 15.

Figures don't lie but lairs figure as the saying goes. The overall odd... [ More ]

Comment #75

NYSlugger 777 — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 06:59:35 GMT

I am too having trouble trying to figure out how 1:258 million equates to 1:129 million myself. Thought I was going crazy for a second lol.

The answer can't be IF you play two games because if you play two games then your odds would

2: 258 million . The Answer also cannot be add megaplier because adding the megaplier for an extra dollar for each game does not effect the ODDS' of winning in ANY way... it only increases the payouts (Excluding the jackpot prize).

LottoMetro please explain... [ More ]

Comment #74

NYSlugger 777 — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 06:32:30 GMT

Under the revamped game, the prizes and odds for matching numbers will be as follows.

Match 1 number + the Mega Ball: $2 (odds are 1 in 56) Match only the Mega Ball: $1 (odds are 1 in 21)

This is the part in the article where I noticed immediately the NEW odds of winning various prizes that are listed are incorrect. How can the Odds of matching ONLY the mega Ball be 1 in 21, if there are only 15 Mega Balls to choose from?? That would be impossbile. Obviously if I play one game

Comment #73

KY Floyd — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 05:58:15 GMT

If you buy two pints of milk will you still get 1/4 gallon

Comment #72

TheOtherOne — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 03:05:41 GMT

MM sure knows what they're doing. They are banking on everyone to figure out ' hey I can spend$15 each draw and cover all 15 numbers and win SOMETHING'

But with those 75 numbers in the white ball field it is astronomical almost to win.

Also isn't 1:258 million odds astronomical too? I'm not seeing how that equates to 1:129 mill.

Comment #71

mnsweeps — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 02:34:18 GMT

hmmm ..thats just bad..

Comment #70

Jon D — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 22:12:52 GMT

Yep, the new MM will be pari-mutuel like all CA games.

Tomorrow's draw 2nd prize would be around $400,000.

Comment #69

mnsweeps — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 19:20:34 GMT

Even though the second prize is $1 million, CA winners won't get $1 million , correct? It will be based pari-mutuel for that draw

Comment #68

RJOh — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 18:46:05 GMT

There was a rumor that Texas did something like that with the PB multiplier to get higher numbers when they were in charge of it, but then there were rumors that Texas paid out larger jackpot amounts than they should to attract more players in some of their other games too. Players like to hear those types of rumors.

Comment #67

NearNewBrit — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 18:18:05 GMT

They wouldn't try something sneaky like put two (or more) Megaballs with each numeral in the machine, would they? Would that tilt the odds in any drastic fashion?

I have been playing six set numbers for years, dating to before I heard of MegaMillions. I had been rotating one of the numbers into the Megaball position on a calendar-month basis. This new limit of 15 has effectively limited my ability to do that to only one of the six numbers. I just bought my first ticket for this 75/15 mat... [ More ]

Comment #66

Todd — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 17:38:29 GMT

I think there is merit to playing 30 lines, but not in the manner suggested by the OP.

Instead of playing the Megaplier with 15 lines, I would play 30 lines without the Megaplier. That will win the same guaranteed $2 every draw, but provide enough lines (30) for a decent wheel.

Which brings me to the next point: quick-picking the 5 white balls is a pretty poor plan. Create a 30-line wheel that has some kind of guarantee, so that if your group of numbers hits, you're guaranteed to have a de... [ More ]

Comment #65

ressuccess — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 17:15:54 GMT

Good luck to the people participating in this new matrix. It will be part of my current event this week.

Comment #64

LottoGuyBC — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 16:33:33 GMT

roflmao

Comment #63

RJOh — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:13:13 GMT

Thanks for sharing but I'm too cheap to spend the extra money for a stamp so when its jackpot gets high enough I'll just buy two $1 tickets instead.

Comment #62

JADELottery — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:09:29 GMT

I'll buy that for a dollar.

Comment #61

KY Floyd — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:58:04 GMT

You may be guaranteed to win $2, but statistically it guarantees that you'll lose $28.

If you do that for every draw, over the course of a year you'll spend $3,120 for 1560 chances at winning something. Based on the odds, here's what you can expect to win:

Match average prize total

74 0+1 $ 3.46 $256.53

28 1+1 $ 6.93 $194.13

3.3 3+0 $17.33 $ 57.20

2 2+1 $17.33 $ 34.66

That means you can expect to win a total of $542.52.

There's a 1 in 7 chance for a 3+1 match that would... [ More ]

Comment #60

reddbrim — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 02:15:08 GMT

She right the state lotto better odds.not great odds but better.....i wonder have any one ever hit a jackpot on here before

Comment #59

dallascowboyfan — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 02:04:59 GMT

I wish I could say the same.

Comment #58

reddbrim — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 01:22:42 GMT

if you play the b.ball along with the mega.p thats $60 without is 30 if your number comes up you still on the lost side

Comment #57

LottoMetro — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 01:19:21 GMT

Same here, though it could get expensive playing the multplier every time.

Play 15 balls in one draw, the probability of winning MB is 100%.

Play 1 ball for 15 draws, the probability of winning MB is only 64%.

Comment #56

Quinto — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 01:01:52 GMT

I'm just going to play all 15 mega balls alone, and QP the white balls, and use the multiplier for a total of $30 per draw. Guaranteed $2 back and chances to win more on rest.

Comment #55

Lucky4Life — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 01:00:58 GMT

thank you Vegan and Artist

Comment #54

reddbrim — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 00:54:40 GMT

look at the cash 5 or pick 3 or4 ask your self how many times have you pick the numbers in those games? i have played a $ 100 quick pick on cash 5 an hit 4 numbers on 1 ticket 3 numbers on 4 ticket an 2 on 5 tickets..did the same amount on mega and power and the state reg lotto an i might get 3 numbers on 1 ticket or none...it all about the odds the odds are not good at all i will play it but till i reach a half billion an oly $ 2 maybe..i have odds in smaller games.an i have done it more than a... [ More ]

Comment #53

Artist77 — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 00:53:15 GMT

From one kitty to another, congrats on going back to school! Outsourcing is occuring in all industries from medical to legal to all businesses. What is interesting is that the work being done in India is not always on the same level as the US (in many cases) so we will see if things swing back. I hope you win the JP

Comment #52

reddbrim — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 00:39:25 GMT

what a joke i will not play it till it reach a half billion an then i might play $2 the odds was not good before an now this.

Comment #51

veganlife125 — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 00:38:26 GMT

I'm sorry to hear about your problems Lucky4Life hang in there. Congrats on going back to school. The bright side of not eating out is it saves a ton of money that you can use to buy in bulk at Costco or Sam's Club and cook it yourself. I prepare all my food and take it to work with me in plastic containers and it so much better for your health. You can get back to work quicker and get more done. In tough times like these when some jobs have to be cut the superiors notice things like that and it... [ More ]

Comment #50

veganlife125 — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 00:22:22 GMT

You sound like one of those Ross Perot voters back in 1992! I couldn't resist just joking with ya.

Comment #49

JonnyBgood07 — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 00:17:52 GMT

We think that players will respond favorably to the new Mega Millions changes and expect even greater sales for the game, said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery.

..Gary Grief???..what the heck kind of name is that for a leader of a game that supposed to inspire optimism lol..

Sounds like a cartoon script in the sunday papers lol

Comment #48

veganlife125 — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 00:07:56 GMT

The estimated jackpot for MM is missing for some reason on the www.usamega.com home page. It is 55 million on the megamillion site.

Comment #47

JackpotWanna — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 19:57:21 GMT

Cool. I will buy some for this week draw. Good Luck everyone

Comment #46

Lucky4Life — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 18:48:08 GMT

same goes for me. I would cry such tears of joy even to win enough to pay off my house. My job as a medical transcriptionist has been hit by a double whammy: Outsourcing to India and technology changed to speech recognition with an over 50% pay cut. I average a little less than $12 an hour now where as a few months ago I took home up to $30 an hour with bonuses. I am back in school but it will be years before I am done with my social work degree and I may lose my house, my car, everything within... [ More ]

Comment #45

TheGameGrl — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 17:09:28 GMT

Thank you to the posters who spelled out the odds and the changes.

Got my MM tickets today, so we shall see if first time luck on the new matrix pays off. They get one chance to reel me in . With 75 numbers in the draw...I'm not feeling confident that anyone will win....

Comment #44

mypiemaster — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 09:45:54 GMT

PB with a current jackpot of $216M Vs MM's $55M, is gonna end up, stealing the thunder away from MM, and raining on MM's parade.

Comment #43

noise-gate — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 03:47:04 GMT

Well Well Coin Toss- l finally found out that the Zeta Reticuli Star System is in Iowa. To think l was focusing in on something 200 light years beyond the Persus Galaxy Cluster formation.

Comment #42

maringoman — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 01:24:29 GMT

I am still shackled to the game until the end of the year when my subscription ends. After that I am gonna accept defeat and find another game that I think I can win in my lifetime. Mass Cash 5/35 Megabucks Doubler 6/49 are on my radars.

Comment #41

Coin Toss — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 23:35:33 GMT

I'm going to do what I said I was going to do when the changes were announced.

I'm going to send a playslip and $2 (as I always played the Megaplier) to the MUSL and say, Considering your new game format I'll skip the formality of playing a ticket and here's your $2.

For anyone else who wants to do that here's the address:

Multi-State Lottery Association

4400 N.W. Urbandale Drive

Urbandale, Iowa 50322

Comment #40

tnlotto1 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 21:02:54 GMT

I will also continue to play both.

Comment #39

zirabamuzaale — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 20:27:39 GMT

I successfully purchased by Mega tickets this after arguing with the manager that the old numbers running up to 56 were not valid. The assistant manager who was on fortunately on hand at the same time requested me to try the old tickets to see if they were still valid. As expected they were invalid and they had to open new boxes for the new tickets. The same thing happened here in Arizona when the Megamillions was introduced in 2010, the managers and supervisors did not have a clue as to what wa... [ More ]

Comment #38

wizeguy — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 20:03:06 GMT

I tried buying an advanced draw ticket today and the machine would not accept it. They offered to sell me one for one draw and I declined. I'll just wait until tomorrow.

Comment #37

Todd — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 19:13:17 GMT

Just so everyone is aware, the Mega Millions info on Lottery Post's pages has been updated with the new changes. So that means the statistics, Quick Picks Generator, Words and Phrases to Lottery Numbers, etc., have all been updated.

Unfortunately, we are in that transition period where the statistics won't have great meaning until at least a month or two passes. But if you visit the stats page, it will be accurate -- just not extremely useful yet.

The info at USA Mega will be updated later... [ More ]

Comment #36

LottoMetro — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 17:20:30 GMT

lol golfer when I say C(75,5) it means N choose K, or 75 choose 5.....how many ways (combinations) of 5 out of 75. It's part of how the odds are figured.

You can see how they are calculated yourself here: http://www.lottonumbers.net/lotto-odds-calculator.asp?Lottery=Mega-Millions-From-October-22nd-2013

Just click on the Show/Hide for each tier and it will explain the math.

The new Megaplier has six 5 s, three 4's, four 3's and two number 2's.

Comment #35

mypiemaster — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 15:45:52 GMT

Spam-a-la-ma-ding-dong

Comment #34

ryanm — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 15:38:23 GMT

Actually, the cash value hasn't jumped much. The only reason the advertised jackpot went up is because, like Powerball, Mega Millions switched to a graduated annuity, so they can boast a higher advertised jackpot for the same TRUE cash available. In fact, Mega Millions can even boast a higher annuity than Powerball, because Mega Millions pays 30 annual payments increasing by 5% each year, while Powerball pays 30 annual payments increasing by only 4% each year. Personally, I think they should hav... [ More ]

Comment #33

golfer1960 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 15:37:13 GMT

Hey Roman, I noticed that large increase but I also noticed the small increase in the cash value: from $25.2M to $30.4M. So it jumped $18M in annuity and only $5.2M in cash value. Is that unusual or normal

Comment #32

Win$500Quick — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 15:35:48 GMT

I will be playing my state lottery games with better odds and less players.

Comment #31

ronboy60 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 15:19:30 GMT

quantam sublimal tape to win at lottery on amazon over 96 million winners so far so to answer all of the other folks on the forum YES I WOULD PURCHASE IT

Comment #30

mypiemaster — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 15:18:59 GMT

Get ready for a billion dollar Xmas jackpot y'all.

Comment #29

Romancandle — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 15:14:08 GMT

Anybody notice how much the annunitized JP jumped from the last drawing?... 18 million (37 to 55)... when's the last time that's happened in the past when the advertised JP was below 40 million?

I think MM is so confident that nobody will win next Tuesday with these new odds that they're betting the bank on it

Comment #28

HoLeeKau — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 15:14:00 GMT

Does anyone know how many of each multiplier will be in the queue? I seem to remember when PowerBall drew multipliers, they had a few 2x's, a couple 3x's, a couple 4x's and one 5x.

Comment #27

golfer1960 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 15:00:22 GMT

I hear ya Rock. I'm pretty much in every MM and PB drawing. I buy 2 lines in each and play multiple drawings at a time (usually 4 or 5 drawings at a time). I only buy QP's now because I'm afraid my numbers will come out on a day that I don't play. That would be my kind of luck.

I stopped at 7-11 today at 7am and got the new bet slip. I was the first one in the store to get it because the guy had to open the pack and give me one.

As far as the odds of winning go, it's still virtually imposs... [ More ]

Comment #26

golfer1960 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 14:48:05 GMT

Metro, I'm confused.

Comment #25

golfer1960 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 14:38:30 GMT

Yo Slugger you are very astute. I read the article and did not pick up on those phony odds they are quoting. Good catch.

Comment #24

rock_nc — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 12:53:16 GMT

I will play both MM and PB because I'm so bloody desperate Hey Golfer1960, that goes for me too! I play to win anything, any amount of a win will suit me just fine. May not put much money in on tickets, 4 bucks on MM only on Friday's, 4 bucks on PB only on Saturday's.. Don't play any of them on Tue,Wed...Just waiting for my numbers to come up! All my picks!! Might slip in Quick Pick every now and then, but not to often. So good luck to all of you tonight!!! Wow Hard to believe I have been on her... [ More ]

Comment #23

JackpotWanna — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 08:07:32 GMT

Nice changes. Jackpots will be huge

Comment #22

adamc224 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 07:41:34 GMT

Good bye old mega millions... how i will miss you. I think that the 5 of 5 prize is awesome the chance of winning 5 million dollars for only 2 dollars is amazing. In my home state you have to pay 25.00 to play to win 5 million and it is annuity. in Georgia, my other money pit... you pay 20.00 to win 5 million cash... i think i will save my 20.00 and purchase 10 tickets with multiplier... one for each of the next 10 draws... people piss and moan because the odds but truthfully they are all hard t... [ More ]

Comment #21

Prob988 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 06:37:24 GMT

What I expect is that one will see months and months go by without a winner, and small jackpot jumps because of low sales. However, if the jackpot run out on the order of a year, it might reach half a billion annuity. However, as the high priced Powerball tickets will be regularly producing jackpots on that scale, no one will be impressed.

When Powerball went to two billion - again with a lie that the odds were better, even though the expectation value was considerably lower - the Megamillion... [ More ]

Comment #20

LottoMetro — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 06:27:19 GMT

That's an okay approximation but it's better to think in terms of combinations.

There are C(75,5) ways to get 5 of 75 and C(70,5) ways to get 0 of 75 [sometimes stated C(75-5,5-0)]. There are C(15,1) ways to get 1 of 15, or simply 15.

C(75,5)/C(70,5) * C(15,1) = ~21

Or you can go even simpler than that and just divide 258,890,850 by C(70,5) or 12,103,014 to get the same answer when rounded.

You can do this in Excel using the COMBIN function, or manually using the factorial formula.... [ More ]

Comment #19

KY Floyd — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 06:21:53 GMT

Sure you can have a chance at $5 million, but that's only if you pay twice a much for a ticket and the megaplier is 5 instead of 2,3 or 4. Depending on what state you're in a $1 ticket may get you better odds of winning the jackpot in the state game, which can be considerably more than $5 million. The overall structure of MM makes it a poor choice until the jackpot gets considerably bigger than the starting value.

Comment #18

KY Floyd — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 06:16:41 GMT

The odds for PB are about 1 in 175 million, almost exactly the same as MM was until a few hours ago. While the odds for PB might be better now, you have to spend twice as much money to get those odds. If you spend that for MM your odds will be about 1 in 130 million, which is significantly better than PB. Of course even with 2 tickets, your chances of scoring the 2nd place prize are still only 1 in 9 million, which is only slightly better than half as likely to win 2nd place in PB.

The odds o... [ More ]

Comment #17

zirabamuzaale — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 06:01:45 GMT

Come to think of it, I am contemplating ditching other lotto games, including The Powerball to play exclusively The Mega. Since The golden balls have been reduced to only 15 i.e. 1 through 15, I could play 15 draws with the same combination and should lady luck smile on me with great luck and say, match similar white balls wow, that $1m*15=$15m i.e. that means i have used my 15* to attain my multiplier that is far far better than the prepaid multipliers are told that pay up to only $6m. If this

Comment #16

LottoMetro — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 05:46:57 GMT

Mega Millions cost $1, Powerball costs $2. Odds of Powerball jackpot are 1 in 175,223,510. So to compare by cost, Mega Millions is still better because you can buy 2 tickets for the price of one Powerball. That gives you odds of 2 in 258,890,850 or simplified as 1 in 129,445,425.

The odds are stated correctly. Remember, there is the chance of matching more than just the Megaball. So the chances of ONLY matching the Megaball are actually harder.

Comment #15

NYSlugger 777 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 05:10:05 GMT

In no way is it better odds of winning a prize other than matching the mega ball. The previous odds of winning the Mega Millions Jackpot were 1 in 175,000,000. The New odds are 1 in 258,890,850. Correct me if i'm wrong but I think the odds of winning the powerball jackpot are about 1 in 195,000,000, which means it will now be easier to win a jackpot in Powerball than it is to win one in Mega Millions. Yeah they made it easier to win a prize all right.. they made it easier to get your one dollar... [ More ]

Comment #14

DisplacedLurker — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 05:04:38 GMT

I noticed the cash value of Megamillions is significantly lower than it used to be (from about 68 percent down to 55!), matching similarly with Powerball's cash value, after this night's draw. Is that because Megamillions has switched to a 30 year annuity? Is USAMega going to reflect these changes in due time

Comment #13

Prob988 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 03:25:46 GMT

I love how the lotteries when making the game much, much, much, much worse always announce that they're making it better.

If they weren't the government, we could sue them for fraud.

Comment #12

golfer1960 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 02:52:48 GMT

I will play both MM and PB because I'm so bloody desperate.

Comment #11

FrankBurns — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 02:21:03 GMT

I won't play this now until it gets to One Billion Smack-a-Roos

Comment #10

hobber — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 01:47:54 GMT

I love it when people say they won't play till the jackpot is over 100 million, I definately need a new career. Though I do play a limited amount, I just do better, no matter what the jackpot is. I've been foutunate to break even and did get 4 in the mega millions once. Though I'll probably pull from the mega millions two picks and put them towards the NY Take 5 of which I do better and had to take away from when the Powerball increased to two dollars. And watch how the numbers start rolling in.... [ More ]

Comment #9

Cupcake10 — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 00:13:24 GMT

We shouldn't play Mega Million starting Tuesday to make them change the game for the people.

Comment #8

RedStang — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 23:33:43 GMT

They put the new playslips out today.

Comment #7

CLETU$ — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 23:29:31 GMT

They just lost me as a customer.I only play powerball when it reaches $100 million and above.

Comment #6

blackjack26241 — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 21:48:43 GMT

Mega millions will hit 1 billion by Dec no one will hit for a longtime

Comment #5

Coin Toss — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 21:40:56 GMT

Prior to this it was said the 5 + 1 games paid 12 to 15 jackpots a year.

I don't think that will happen wirh MM anymore with a 75 number upper matrix.

Going for 5 + 0 might be the best shot, if your state lotery jackpot in less than $5,000,000.

MM 5 + 0 1 in 18,492,204

IL Lotto JP 1 in 20, 358, 520. 6/52 game.

Of course with MM you might catch 5 + 1, but for the millions who never did it with a 56 number grid what makes them think they'll do it with a 75 number grid.

The lotter... [ More ]