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What Are The Odds Of Winning The Mega Millions Lottery?

You might have come across one of the Mega Millions lottery jackpots that went over $1 billion, or you simply heard that it is a difficult game. Regardless of the reason that made you wonder about the odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery, I decided to give you that answer in many possible ways. In other words, be ready to know the odds, what it means to regular players, and if those chances can be improved.

What Are Your Odds of Winning the Mega Millions Jackpot?

Your odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are an impressive 1 in 302,575,350. That means that the current game format of 5 out of 70 numbers plus 1 out of 25 special numbers that lead to the jackpot has over 302.5 million possibilities. It is not the hardest game available, and it is quite agreeable considering the transformative prize.

We have already covered a comparison of Mega Millions Vs. Powerball odds and highlighted the pros and cons if you are interested.

Therefore, if you buy more Mega Millions tickets, let’s say 10, your odds would be 10 in 302,575,350. Still pretty hard, and that is why it is considered to be a tough lottery. Fortunately, there are many prize tiers in the game and a multiplier that goes with them to make it more than a jackpot lottery.

Your Odds of Winning Other Mega Millions Prizes

The table below summarizes the prizes and odds of all other prize tiers except the jackpot:

MATCH PRIZE ODDS
5 $1,000,000 1 in 12,607,306
4 + Mega Ball $10,000 1 in 931,001
4 $500 1 in 38,792
3 + Mega Ball $200 1 in 14,547
3 $10 1 in 606
2 + Mega Ball $10 1 in 693
1 + Mega Ball $4 1 in 89
0 + Mega Ball $2 1 in 37

With odds of 1 in 12,607,306, you can get $1 million by matching the five numbers but missing the Mega Ball – the obligatory second-drum drawing in the game. That’s pretty good, especially because that is usually the jackpot of the best local games in some states.

While the other prizes are not as appealing, the total calculation of the odds of winning the lottery results in overall odds of 1 in 24. Therefore, whenever you play a ticket, you have the general chance of 1 in 24 of winning any prize.

We may add up to that analysis the fact that you can top up a ticket of yours with the $1 Megaplier. If you win a secondary prize with the Megaplier activated, your winnings can be multiplied up to 5x, with the following odds for the applying multiplier:

Megaplier Multiplier Odds
2x 1 in 3
3x 1 in 2.5
4x 1 in 5
5x 1 in 15

Therefore, a secondary-prize winner with a Megaplier has odds of 1 in 15 of having the prize multiplied by 5. In the case of the $1 million prize, that would be $5 million, which is excellent for the odds of 1 in 12 million.

Does Playing Mega Millions Online Change Your Odds?

When you play Mega Millions online through a lottery agent site or on lottery betting sites, your odds are the exact same as playing at a physical store. Regardless of whether you purchased real tickets online or placed bets through the best lottery sites, they are all true to the game rules, and the odds do not change for any prize tier. 

On the other hand, playing Mega Millions online has some advantages that can help you improve your odds, and that is what I’m covering next.

Can You Improve Your Odds of Winning Mega Millions?

The short answer to this question is a big “Yes,” but keep in mind that you will not forecast or influence the Mega Millions lottery results in any way. Basically, aside from covering more combinations, you can make good use of the tools and advantages of online lotteries to improve your odds of winning Mega Millions.

Among the most important features present on those websites, you may join the best lottery syndicates, where you get 50, 100, or hundreds of entries for the cost of a few. Of course, you would be sharing your prize in case of winning, but games like Mega Millions have jackpots big enough to change the lives of hundreds of people.

Besides, it is not rare to find bundles and discounts to purchase tickets to more than one lottery, as we mentioned in our theLotter review. If you save money and purchase more tickets with the same amount, you are technically improving your odds of winning the game.

It is always possible to extrapolate the realm of logic and math and include your beliefs. If you use our statistics, you may find the hottest numbers and play them because you believe that it is a lottery strategy that effectively improves your odds. The same goes for using lottery numerology predictions.

Since there is no possible way to worsen your odds, everything is welcome when you want to improve the odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery.

5 Things More Likely to Happen Than Winning

Just out of curiosity, have you ever wondered how your odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery compare to other unlikely events? Let’s take a look at five and how much smaller they are:

  1. Plane Crash – The odds of you dying in a plane crash are relieving 1 in 20 million, more than 10x more likely than winning the Mega Millions lottery.
  2. Becoming a Saint – Considering the number of people who have lived and the total of saints, your chances of being canonized are also 1 in 20 million.
  3. Becoming the Next President – The chance of becoming America’s next president is 1 in 32.6 million.
  4. Shark Attack – Being killed by a shark is not in your plans, and the tough odds of that happening is 1 in 3.7 million.
  5. Olympic Gold – The chance of getting an Olympic gold medal is 1 in 662,000.

Aside from the fact that those are compared to the jackpot odds and that you can win a lot with secondary prizes, we cannot consider those to be absolute. The last item makes that discrepancy from reality obvious, as most people will have 0 chance of getting an Olympic gold medal, regardless of what statistics say. Lottery odds, on the other hand, are just a ticket away.

Should You Play Mega Millions Despite the Odds?

The fact is that, although the odds of winning the Mega Millions are tough, people keep winning every now and then. We have access to syndicates and group play that makes everything a bit easier, and even a secondary prize could be great for anyone.

If you like the lottery as I do, I’d say that it would be terrible to see my lucky numbers being drawn when I decided to stop. I just continue playing, and you are free to decide what to do with all that information now.

FAQs

Is Mega Millions Harder or Easier Than Powerball?
Mega Millions is harder than Powerball, counting on over 10 million more possible combinations for the same starting jackpot.
How to Make Mega Millions Odds Better?
You may purchase more entries or enter syndicates to improve your odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery naturally.
Are There Lotteries Harder Than Mega Millions?
Yes, SuperEnalotto is an example of a super-hard lottery with odds of 1 in 622,614,630 for the jackpot.

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