Mega Millions will roll out several changes next month, including new ticket prices, jackpots and an increase in the odds of winning, the multistate lottery game announced.
Players will need more than $2 and a dream to play. After the April 4 drawing, tickets will cost $5 each, Mega Millions said in a statement Tuesday. An optional add-on to potentially increase nonjackpot prizes for an additional dollar and a $3 feature for two plays for the jackpot will be discontinued.
In exchange for the higher price, the game boasts better odds for winning. While the odds for winning any prize will improve from 1 in 24 to 1 in 23, the chances of winning the big prize will still be astronomical: going from 1 in 302,575,350 to 1 in 290,472,336. The change will make the odds of winning Mega Millions’ jackpot closer to winning Powerball’s, where the odds are 1 in 292.2 million.
One thing that hasn’t changed is people are still less likely to win the jackpot than to be struck by struck by lightning, the odds of which are 1 in 15,300 in a lifetime, according to the National Weather Service.
Players win a Mega Millions jackpot by matching the five white balls and the gold Mega Ball. The game’s smallest prize is won by matching just the Mega Ball. The changes in the game’s odds come from removing one of the Mega Balls.
The size of the prizes are also changing. The jackpot will be a minimum of $50 million, up from $20 million. Mega Millions estimates that the average jackpot win with the new changes will be over $800 million, an increase from about $450 million. A random multiplier will also be added to the smaller prizes.
“Players who had won $2 in the old game will now take home $10, $15, $20, $25 or $50 under this game,” Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement. “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.”
Mega Millions drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. Eastern time. The first drawing under the changes will be April 8. Tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The biggest Mega Millions jackpot ever was $1.602 billion, won on Aug. 8, 2023, when a single winning ticket was sold in Florida.
Alex Sundby is a senior editor at CBSNews.com. In addition to editing content, Alex also covers breaking news, writing about crime and severe weather as well as everything from multistate lottery jackpots to the July Fourth hot dog eating contest.
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