Residents of the United States of America and visitors to that country are able to take part in the Mega Million Lottery. It is a multi-state game, and provides its participants with the chance to win some truly extraordinary amounts of money.
The Mega Million Lottery is one of two of the big jackpot games residents of the United States of America are able to take part in, but is the only one that has tickets on offer for as little as $1. Thanks to the fact that so many people participate, the jackpots soar very quickly, and begin at a massive $15 million. Participants are asked to select six numbers for play, and there are nine different ways to win.
Number Selection for Mega Million Lottery
Players of the Mega Million Lottery are able to choose six numbers from two separate pools. Five of these in the one to 75 number range, and one from one to 15. Should the player not wish to select his or her own numbers the easy pick option is provided, whereby a selection of numbers is automatically selected by a computer programme. Players win the big jackpot by having a six-number match with those randomly drawn at the lottery’s close.
The jackpots for the Mega Million Lottery start at $15 million and are raised by a minimum of $5 million each time it rolls over.
Choices for the Big Jackpot Win
Players lucky enough to win the Mega Million Lottery jackpot have a number of ways in which they are able to collect their prize money.
The Mega Million Lottery annuity option is structured to pay out one sum immediately and then follow this up with 29 payments made over as many years. Each successive payment will be 5% larger than the one preceding it, a recent change that was put in place in order to combat the effects of the annual rise in cost of living. This feature protects the winners’ standard of living and ensures that their purchasing power remains at the same level.
For those who prefer it, a one-time lump-sum payment of the total amount of the Mega Million jackpot is available as well.
On top of the big jackpot, prizes for this lottery range from $1 to $1 million, although in the state of California these prizes are pari-mutuel. This means that the total payouts will be based on the amount of tickets sold and then divided by the number of people who win. All of the other participating states have second- to ninth-place prizes set at pre-determined amounts of money.
There is also a megaplier feature available in the majority of states, which allows players to increase their non-jackpot prizes by two; three; four or five times. This will cost an extra $1, and players are able to view the odds for each of these numbers at the lottery website.
The winning numbers for this lottery game are published, and are made available very soon after the draw has been made. Information on the number of winners is published on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, after the winning tickets have been verified.