Mega Millions Lottery is a multi-state lottery played twice a week in participating states in the United States. Mega Millions starting jackpot is $15 Million. After that, it rolls over until it gets won.
How to Play Mega Millions Lottery
Mega Millions lotto players choose five numbers from 1 to 75 in one set, and 1 number from 1 to 15 in a second set. All digits must match draw results to win a Mega Millions jackpot.
Mega Million Lottery players can opt for an Easy Pick option which selects lottery numbers for a lottery player automatically by a computer-generated random number generator.
Matching Lottery Numbers
Matching all six numbers pays out the top jackpot in the Mega Millions Lottery game. Eight other prize tiers range from $2 to a whopping $1,000,000 for matching numbers in different combinations.
Pari-Mutuel State Winners
In California, prize amounts get based on ticket sales and the number of winners and no Mega Plier feature is allowed as it is a pari-mutuel state. That essentially means lottery players can only win amounts from a shared pool.
Mega Plier Feature
The Mega Plier feature allows players to win 2x, 3x or even 4x their prize value. This feature is a paid-for one that players can opt for by paying an extra $1. This feature is optional and allows for a multiplier of wins.
It means that if a player wins $1,000,000 on a draw by matching five numbers, they could double the win with the Mega Plier feature if taken. The Mega Plier feature is not available on the main jackpot though, for obvious reasons.
Mega Millions Lottery History
Mega Millions Lottery was initially called the Big Game when it launched on August 31st 1996. However, the first draw took place on September 6th 1996, with six states joining. These were Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia.
In February 1998, a Tuesday draw of Mega Millions got added to the lottery game based on the phenomenal response it received the previous year.
The first format of the Big Game paid out winners of the top jackpot only in annual instalments. However, a cash value option for lottery winners got first introduced in January 1999.
In May 2002, the name of this already successful lottery game changed to Mega Millions Lottery.
First Lottery Winner from Chicago
There was a lottery jackpot winner in the very first Mega Millions draw on May 17, 2002. One lucky lottery player from Chicago claimed $28 Million from a single winning ticket. The jackpot restarted at $12 Million and was won the following week again.
The growth of Mega Millions
More states joined Mega Millions Lottery over the years until there were 12 participating states by June 2005. This made it the most widely played multi-state lottery jackpot game in the United States.
Mega Millions Lottery then teamed up with Powerball Lottery in a cross-selling contract on January 31st, 2010, adding 23 more state lotteries into the lottery game.
Mega Millions currently plays in 44 jurisdictions within the USA. To date, Mega Millions has awarded seven big jackpot wins of over $300 Million each.
On March 30th, 2012, the Mega Millions Lottery jackpot reached a record-breaking $656 Million. The lottery jackpot is the record amount for a lottery payout and was shared by three winning tickets, one each from Kansas (unclaimed), Illinois and Maryland.
Lottery players enjoy Mega Millions Lottery as there are so many prizes up for grabs.
Following recent changes ( Oct 2013 ), there are more prize levels, and the smallest jackpot and rollover amounts have increased.