Mega Millions changes start Saturday

October 17, 2013 Posted by NC Lottery at 1:55 PM

If you like to play Mega Millions, get ready to play a new way. Changes to the jackpot game, announced in July, will begin after Friday’s drawing.

Here are some highlights:

- Ticket prices aren’t changing. A Mega Millions ticket will remain $1 or – if the Megaplier feature is added – $2.

- The range of numbers for the white balls expands from 1-56 to 1-75. The numbers for the Mega Ball shift from 1-46 to 1-15.

- The new universe of numbers means new odds and new prize amounts at every level.

- Jackpots will start bigger, and grow faster. The jackpot will begin at $15 million and – when there is no “perfect ticket” – roll by at least $5 million.

- The prize for matching all five white balls on a $1 ticket jumps from $250,000 to $1 million.

For all the details, check out our July blog entry: More ‘Mega’ coming to Mega Millions. If you still have questions about the new Mega Millions game, please call customer service at 877-962-7529.

56 COMMENTS

11/24/2013 01:29 - john a.

I haven't played megamillions since the change, and don't intend to play again. I like the idea put forth earlier about the smaller lotto's.

10/31/2013 11:11 - Thom B.

The old payout for 3 white balls was $10. The new payout for 3 white balls is $5 with now a staggering 75 WHITE BALLS! Who is the mathematician that figured that ADDING more balls would DECREASE the payout? Also, same payout for getting just the megaball AND the megaball +1? LAME!

10/24/2013 09:12 - NC Lottery

@ KATHYG - It's not any easier or harder to win a prize in a random lottery drawing depending on where you live. There are just many more people living west of where you live taking a chance to win. Again, the odds aren't any different for anyone else as they are for you... where a winning ticket or entry will show up is all a matter of random luck. Best wishes to you.

10/23/2013 11:19 - KATHY G.

I've noticed on lucke rewards nobody from the coast ever wins, all winners are past I-95. I'M GONNA DRIVE TO SC TO PLAY ODDS ARE MUCH BETTER.

10/23/2013 11:27 - robert l c.

listens people the nc mega has no control over the mega headquater for the new mega game!thanks

10/22/2013 02:58 - Teresa Q.

Well I say GOOD LUCK to all the players, we have had a MILLION DOLLAR winner in our family and it's my turn next :)

10/22/2013 10:41 - Ryan K.

@EZ Money - Thank you for your comments. We will pass them along to the lottery's decision makers.

10/21/2013 09:30 - Roger K.

Annuity: for North Carolina Mega Millions Jackpot for Tue, Oct 22, 2013 $55,000,000-Jackpot $30,400,000-cash North Carolina: 7% State Tax - $128,333 - $2,128,000 Your average net per year: $1,246,667 Your net payout: $20,672,000 After 30 payments: $37,400,010 Annuity Payment Schedule

10/21/2013 09:24 - Roger K.

Powerball Jackpot for Wed, Oct 23, 2013 $216,000,000-Jackpot $124,800,000-cash option Annuity Payment Schedule Annuity North Carolina: 7% State Tax - $504,000 - $8,736,000 Your average net per year: $4,896,000 Your net payout: $84,864,000 After 30 payments: $146,880,000

10/20/2013 10:57 - Barry C.

Sheer greed by the MUSL and MM & PB corporations trying to constantly outdo and one up each other. Even the MM 2nd tier prize odds got roughly 5 to 6 times worse. Who do they think they are fooling with their " improvement " ? Statistical improvement for whom ?? lol. What NC lottery needs is something like TN Lottery has recently done and that is join Hot Lotto. It's a smaller game of about 1 in 29 mil. odds, kinda like a big cash 5 in terms of the balls, etc. This is all a person needs to play to win to be set for life. Jackpots start at around a million or so and are typically won between 2 - 5 million. This game would be so popular here in NC among our players. Or at least consider joining a multi-state game such as the old lotto south that used to be shared between VA, GA, KY with jackpots starting at 2million that grew by a million per drawing and had roughly 1 in 13 million odds of winning. When will our lottery ever learn .... sigh .....

10/20/2013 07:01 - Elisabeth W.

I cannot wait for the first drawing! But I see this game getting over a billion dollars. WOW! Wonder who is gonna be the first billionaire? Me of course! LOL!

10/20/2013 06:47 - Roger K.

When and if you should win, be nice to not have to pay taxes on lottery winning, like some other states don't have too! That's just my 2 cents!

10/19/2013 09:50 - Kevin M.

I'm not going to giving up playing the mega million. Maybe the Powerball because it doesn't allow more than 4 people to win whenever the jackpot reaches 400 million plus.

10/18/2013 05:21 - Roger K.

Well I bought my ticket for mega millions and got my cash5 also. Have not won anything all this week! Maybe tonight will be the win I'm looking for!Good Luck to you all! Just imagine, when MEGA MILLIONS goes to the new changes, if you play the Megaplier, and you win 5 numbers right and the Megaplier number is a 5, that's 5 million dollar win!

10/18/2013 04:06 - rita m.

my things the mega buck number difference all the time, but the pick 3 and pick 4 are the same numbers falling but in difference way . I to play the same numbers in all the lottery drawing of nc-lottery and they just want fall.I am going to give it a rest, its not for me been playing lottery since it came to this state.

10/18/2013 03:12 - NC Lottery

@ JERRIANN - #1, we don't censor comments just because they are critical or accusatory of the lottery. As long as folks don't use vulgar or insulting language, we will do our best to respond to your concerns. #2, just because a Lucke-Zone member wins a prize in one drawing does not in any way disqualify him or her from entering and having a chance to win in another drawing. The user you're referring to happened to win in two of the Hot Summer 2nd Chance drawings. We're happy for him and all the winners. Good luck to you, too :-)

10/18/2013 03:09 - NC Lottery

@ BANDIT - Just sharing facts with you. On that note, the state legislature decides how lottery funds are distributed, and local school districts decide to spend the money that is designated for school construction projects. You're invited to visit our website and click on the "Where the Money Goes" page to learn more about how it works.

10/18/2013 02:49 - Steve R. B.

N.C. Education Lottery should get involved with the original Mega states. They are claiming they have no control, blaming it on the other guys. Oh yeah how about fixing the leaking roofs on our kidss' schools,get involved or change your name from N.C. Education Lottery.Blame yourself no the other guys.

10/18/2013 02:33 - NC Lottery

@ EVERYONE - On the topic of the changes to Mega Millions, please click the link to the previous blog and follow the link there for information about the original 12 Mega Millions states that make decisions about this particular game. The N.C. Education Lottery was not involved in the decision to change Mega Millions, but we are excited about some of the changes, including the Match 5 prize going from $250,000 to $1 million. For those that are interested in this game, good luck; for everyone else, we hope that some of the variety of games we have to offer have features that you like.

10/18/2013 02:33 - NC Lottery

@ CARL - Most of what players spend on a ticket goes back to winners in the form of prizes. The next-largest amount of money goes to education: With the help of players and retailers, the lottery has raised more than $2.9 billion for education. You can review totals to specific programs in all 100 counties on the "Where the Money Goes" page on our website.

10/18/2013 02:33 - NC Lottery

@ ERICA - Each entry you make into a drawing is another chance to win. It's like having more than one ticket for Pick 3 or Powerball... each additional ticket/entry increases your chances some. But just one lucky ticket/entry could still win... that's the magic/fun of games of chance :-)

10/18/2013 01:21 - Ruwani M.

I and my family lost the interest of playing Megamillion.

10/18/2013 12:34 - charnell n.

I pray I win. I got my daughter hospital bills and im a single mother with a disable child.

10/18/2013 12:30 - Steve R. B.

Not worth playing. You have lost another customer.

10/18/2013 11:50 - Steve R. B.

Shame on you Lottery Commission. It is not worth playing.

10/18/2013 11:32 - Oscar T.

It's up to you if you want to play, nobody will put a gun to your head and say play.

10/18/2013 10:48 - RICKY L.

The odds are higher yeah, but you have a better chance of winning at least the "megaball".

10/18/2013 10:41 - Carl T.

Its bad enough that the winnings (State part) arent all given to what its suppose to go to (Education). now you make the odds so great against the players that it takes the probability completely away of winning.... How about having 5 drawings per game to split the total up 5 ways, this would actually make the players stay with the game, and it makes more sense. Your sales would double... (this aint rocket science!)

10/18/2013 10:26 - Randy T.

So GLAD you're done.... One less person to get in the way of ME winning it... :) I am sure the NC Lottery will sorely miss your $2 a month... ;)

10/18/2013 10:14 - Erica H.

Do you really have a greater chance of winning the more draws you enter in the Lucke-zone.com or does one draw hold the same weight as 1,000 draws? Just wondering.....

10/18/2013 09:33 - ezzie m.

I think its a bunch of bull S

10/18/2013 08:20 - jerriann r.

I WON'T TO COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR SITE,A GUY BY THE NAME OF TONY EDWARDS OF NASHVILLE,NC KEEPS WINNING ON SECOND CHANCE SCRATCH OFFS. SOUNDS FUNNY TO ME,REAL FUNNY....SOUNDS FAKE !!!bET YOU WON'T MESSAGE ME BACK....

10/18/2013 08:16 - jerriann r.

I WISH YOU WOULD'NT DO THIS. I WON'T PLAY ANYMORE. you've UPPED THE ODDS AND SO THERE'S NO SENSE PLAYING ANYMORE....

10/18/2013 07:55 - jerriann r.

I can't stand the fact that you people wouldn't leave Mega alone Now you've made it like Powerball and it's even harder to win. So I won't be playing anymore. Thanks a lot. I hate this.....

10/18/2013 06:39 - Daniel K.

I still think that it is rigged to get the pots as high as possible. More money in their pockets that does not all go to education.

10/18/2013 06:31 - Mary W.

More Fun...I love it

10/18/2013 06:07 - Ronnie B.

Well I wont be purchasing anymore Mega Tickets anymore!!! You increased number of the balls when I could not even hit 5 with the numbers you had. YOU just want to make sure that YOU keep ALL the money!!! No more from me!!!

10/18/2013 05:50 - Thom B.

So they have nearly doubled the odds of winning the jackpot (a staggering 1 in 259 million) and have decreased the payout on 6 of the 8 payout possibilities. No one cares if the "Jackpots start bigger and grow faster" so please stop justifying the horrible odds and even worse payouts by saying that. Thanks.

10/18/2013 01:42 - Paul G.

I don't even need a million. Just a few hundred thousand would get my family out of debt and living comfortably. But some people have all the luck. Others... Not so lucky!

10/18/2013 12:52 - Tim M.

Whoever made the changes, it's still a really asinine move. A friend was telling me how the Mega Ball wouldn't exceed 15 now. I don't believe he was even aware though that the white balls would increase to 75! Good move indeed. Thanks for the warning.

10/17/2013 11:16 - James M.

The odds were horrible to begin with several years ago when I had to drive to Virginia to get a ticket. Now they are practically impossible. I guess this is a couple of bucks per draw that I will now save and like @BRUCEM; will only invest on big jackpots. Megamillions will lose a lot of customers because of this.

10/17/2013 09:13 - kay n.

It doesn't matter to me- I NEVER win anyway.

10/17/2013 08:27 - philip j.

more money more money......

10/17/2013 07:54 - Matthew C.

I have been playing the same numbers since 1997. The new game eliminates my numbers. Tomorrow will be my last time playing MegaMillions. I very seldom play Powerball since the $2 per number went into affect. Count me out as well.

10/17/2013 07:35 - deborah l.

i wish that i can win

10/17/2013 07:19 - RENATO U.

As it is,it's real hard to win a jackpot and now you are making it real hard by increasing the odds.

10/17/2013 07:03 - James I.

Yeah, I am with the previous posters comments. I pretty much stopped playing powerball all together when they doubled the price of the powerplay and dumped the multiplier and pretty much flatten the prizes all together for the lower levels where you at least could win your ticket purchase price back. They used to get $20 each drawing but when it shot to $30 for the same drawing and lowered the prizes they now get ZIP..Zero..Nada. I may still buy some Mega Millions tickets as the price didnt go up. but not my normal $40 a weeks worth. Sorry Guys

10/17/2013 06:46 - Jennie C.

I'm going to continue to play, & I'm going to win a jackpot soon whether it's Mega Million or Powerball. All I know is I've gotta play in order to win so if the jackpot is 15million or 215million I'm playing to win :)

10/17/2013 06:38 - lydia b.

The only thing good would be the million dollar prize for the dollar ticket with five white balls.

10/17/2013 05:46 - sylvia p.

cool, it is now time for me to hit the mega million. LOL

10/17/2013 04:16 - Titus G.

It is all luck so play responsible!

10/17/2013 04:09 - Ronald C.

The new mega sounds interesting with fewer mega balls. It's almost like keno with a kick!

10/17/2013 03:40 - david s.

all you do is keep chasing people away. you need more winners, less big prizes. you're failing in your goals.

10/17/2013 03:33 - jerry s.

I guess they`ll change the name also, to "Mega Billions",,,,with those odds, it`ll probably get there.

10/17/2013 03:21 - NC Lottery

@ BRUCEM - The N.C. Education Lottery did not make the changes to the Mega Millions game. You can read more about it at one of the links included in this blog.

10/17/2013 03:07 - Bruce M.

I'm done! You may have raised the jackpot levels, but you have increased the odds. That is exactly why I quit playing PowerBall unless the pot is over 250MM+. I will now only play Mega when it is 250MM+ also. Bad move.

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Mega Millions changes start Saturday

October 17, 2013 Posted by NC Lottery at 1:55 PM

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