Mega Millions
The Mega Millions is a popular national lottery played in the USA every week, which has very enticing rewards. It is a lottery with a world-renowned massive prize and a jackpot with an all-time record for the biggest pay-out won by an individual ticket.
This article will tell you all you need to know about this lottery, how to play USA Mega Millions online from India, your chances of getting a large lottery prize, collecting your lotto prize money, and more.
General Info on the Mega Millions Lotto
A lotto ticket allows the player to decide on six digits from two different pools of numbers. The two pools are as follows: manually choose five distinct numbers from 1 to 70 (these are the white lottery balls) and one digit from 1 to 25 (this is the gold Mega Ball); or choose the Easy Pick/Quick Pick option. If a player can accurately predict each of the six digits in the winning lotto drawing, they can collect jackpot lottery prize.
The starting jackpot prize for this lotto is gauged according to the lottery ticket purchases of that week and is therefore announced before every drawing, but it has previously surpassed $1 billion multiple times.
This lottery is played in 47 states in the USA as well as played abroad via the internet. Mega Millions lotto players tune in to see the live
drawings done on Tuesday and Friday nights in Atlanta, Georgia at 11pm Eastern Standard Time.
Mega Millions Rules
- Lottery players must be at least 18 years old.
- Purchasing a lotto ticket is essential. The cost is $2 per ticket and the optional Megaplier plays cost $1 each.
- Non-jackpot prizes are eligible for increases of up to 5 times the original amount. Not all states offer Megаpliers. The drawing to select the Megaplier takes place before drawings.
- Every state has predetermined Mega Millions prize amounts for lotto levels 2-9. This does not include California, where the prize money depends on the number of winners and sales.
- A ‘Just the Jackpot’ lottery is available in certain locations.
- This lottery figures are picked twice every week on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Live Draw
What is a Megaplier?
As mentioned, your lotto ticket also allows for a Megaplier on your entry. All you need to do is check the Megaplier multiplier box to boost your potential lotto pay-out by as much as five times. There is an extra cost per line of just $1, which makes this a tempting deal. The jackpot prize for the Mega Millions is not affected by any lotto multipliers.
The Megaplier picked for each individual lottery draw sets the actual amount for the non-jackpot prizes as illustrated in the table below:
| Match | No Megaplier | Megaplier 2 | Megaplier 3 | Megaplier 4 | Megaplier 5 |
| 5 + Mega ball | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot |
| 5 | $1 million | $2 million | $3 million | $4 million | $5 million |
| 4 + MB | $10,000 | $20,000 | $30,000 | $40,000 | $50,000 |
| 4 | $500 | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,000 | $2,500 |
| 3 + MB | $200 | $400 | $600 | $800 | $1,000 |
| 3 | $10 | $20 | $30 | $40 | $50 |
| 2 + MB | $10 | $20 | $30 | $40 | $50 |
| 1 + MB | $4 | $8 | $12 | $16 | $20 |
| 0 + MB | $2 | $4 | $6 | $8 | $10 |
Be Smart about your Lotto Playing
You can feel confident about the value of the money you spend on the american lottery Mega Millions by taking part in syndicates or entering in bundles. Online lottery ticket websites also often provide the options of joining a subscription plan.
Syndicates
These are groups of players who pay for multiple tickets for the lottery as a group and divide any money that is won.
Bundles
Bundle packages allow you to have your own individual entry into the lotto as well as entry into a share of a syndicate.
Subscriptions
A lottery subscription automatically enters the player into the lottery each time for a specified amount of time. This ensures that you do not forget to enter or miss an opportunity, and that you are paying a discounted price in the long run. You can even earn loyalty discounts through certain subscription plans.
Just the Jackpot
The Mega Millions introduced a ‘Just the Jackpot’ lotto alternative for players in certain American states. As the name suggests, this means that you participate in the lottery for the jackpot money alone. This kind of ticket costs $3, which gives you two entries into the jackpot only.
Playing Outside of the USA
Players can participate in the lotto game from any country, including India, simply by using a lottery website such as Lottosmile or Lotto247. These sites act as messengers that buy the lotto ticket for you in America, and safely send you the details in an encrypted manner. This is a very popular choice as it is easy, affordable, and opens up the international world of lottery to Indian players. You do need to be careful though as there is the risk of online scams. Be sure to use legitimate lottery websites that are licensed by a gambling board and reputed. This article will mostly focus on this option of buying lotto tickets online for the Mega Millions.
Some websites also allow you to place a bet on the outcome of the lottery, which is another way of winning, except without actually entering the lottery. Such sites as LottoLand, Lotto247 and Lottokings provide this service, also described as fixed odds betting, and many users state that this is a great alternative to actually playing the lotto as there are more stable odds to consult. However, there are not as many legitimate sites that provide this option and the prizes are not always as large as a potential lottery prize.
There is also the option of visiting the US and purchasing a physical lottery ticket there, but this is obviously costly especially if you do not end up being a winner of the lotto prize money. If you do win, then the cost of the flight will certainly be worth it!
Guide to Playing Mega Millions Online
Some people feel hesitant to enter the lottery online, but there is nothing to be worried about. The steps to entering the lotto from the comfort of your home are simple and as follows:
- Visit a lottery ticket selling website such as TheLotter or PlayHugelottos.
- Find the ‘sign up’ or ‘open account’ button and click.
- Fill in your personal details in order to create an account; such as name, age, country, email address, and further identifiers
- Decide on your preferred payment method and input relevant details.
- Once your account is set up, click on “Mega Millions” as your lottery choice.
- Choose the quantity of lotto tickets you would like to purchase.
- Select your lottery figures to play, or let the computer decide for you.
- Select any Megapliers or bonuses available on the particular site. Some sites allow for syndicates or bundles – valuable deals that increase your chances of winning big with the lotto.
- Pay for the lotto ticket online.
- Wait for the results. You can watch a live drawing at or check the results here.
- Receive your winnings, if your numbers have won.
Big Lotto Winners
Hall of Fame: Since the start of this lottery in 2002 (it was called The Big Game from 1996 until this time), 196 jackpots have been rewarded to 221 individual tickets (20 of these jackpots were prizes that were paid out in shares to multiple winners).
This lotto has seen 22 jackpots won that amounted to over 300 million dollars. One of those jackpot winners is the record-holder with a prize of 1.53 billion dollars won in South Carolina on October 23, 2018.
Below is a table of the most impressive Mega Millions Jackpots won to this day:
| Amount | Date | Lotto Winner |
| $1.5 billion | 23rd October 2018 | One South Carolina ticket holder |
| $1 billion | 22nd January 2021 | Wolverine FLL Club, Oakland County, Michigan |
| $656 million | 30th March 2012 | Merle and Patricia Butler from Illinois, three associates from Maryland, and an anonymous winner from Kansas |
| $648 million | 17th December 2013 | Ira Curry from Georgia and Steve Tran of California |
| $543 million | 24th July 2018 | 11 office workers from Santa Clara County, California |
Recent Winners: A Match 5 lotto prize that was won in June 2021 came to $1 million, while one recent overjoyed lottery player hit the boosted $2 million Match 5 + Megaplier prize! The current jackpot prize money is set at $61 million.
Chances of Winning
There are 9 different ways of winning this lotto and each has different odds associated with them. This is illustrated as follows:
| Combination | Prize | Chances of Winning |
| 5 numbers + Mega number | Jackpot (dependent) | 1 in 302,575,350 |
| 5 numbers | $1 million | 1 in 12,607,306 |
| 4 numbers + Mega number | $10,000 | 1 in 931,001 |
| 4 numbers | $500 | 1 in 38,792 |
| 3 numbers + Mega number | $200 | 1 in 14,547 |
| 3 numbers | $10 | 1 in 606 |
Your winnings
Collection: If you’re concerned about receiving your lotto winnings when playing through online services, rest assured you will receive the money into the account that you detailed on your profile for the website. Also, most reputed websites will not charge you anything extra for collecting your prize.
The Mega Millions jackpot prize actually gives you two options of attaining your prize money if you win.
- Lump sum – this is when you receive all of the lottery money at once, also known as the cash option. This is the most popular option chosen although it does incur a large tax. You remove the risk of the value of your lotto jackpot depreciating in the event of economic crisis in the US state in which your ticket won. However, many lottery winners fall victim to over-spending after receiving such a large sum of money at once and eventually leave themselves in poverty.
- Annuity – choosing this offer means you will receive a weekly cheque over 30 years. This involves less initial taxes on your lotto prize and has been suggested to be a good way of preventing overspending your sudden wealth, and reacting poorly to your change of financial circumstances, although you are at the mercy of the economy of the state in which your ticket won.
Taxes: Accepting the lump sum of your lotto winnings means you may be taxed up to 37% on your lotto prize immediately.
Accepting the annuity amount signifies that you could pay 24% at first followed by the remaining 13% later on, making the total also 37%.
- There are no taxes on lotto prizes up to $599.99.
- Lotto winnings amounting to between $600 and $4,999.99 are subject to a tax rate of 30% for non-residents.
- If your prize is above $5,000 it is subject to a tax rate of 38.82% for non-residents.
The taxes will vary conditional to the state of the USA in which your lotto ticket was obtained, keeping in mind that lottery websites buy the tickets for you in the states with tax rates that are the least expensive.
FAQ
- Question: Is it legal to play this lottery from India?
Answer: You will not be acting in contradiction of Indian lottery laws by playing this lottery as it is an overseas lotto drawing and Indian citizens are legally permitted to play from anywhere in the country. It is also completely legal on the US side for international lottery players to take part through the paths that we have detailed within this article.
- Question: Is it better than the Powerball?
Answer: Both are popular and rewarding lotteries. Powerball’s jackpot prize is smaller than the MegaMillions, but you will have higher chances of being a winner. This lotto has a bigger jackpot, but the odds of winning this lotto are decreased due to its popularity and high reward.
- Question: Where can I watch the live draws of this lottery?
Answer: You can watch Mega Millions live draw on our website at or you can check the results if you were not able to catch the live lottery drawing at or on the USA Mega Millions official site.
- Question: What is the Mega Millions lotto ticket price in India?
Answer: When purchasing an online lotto ticket on a website while taking part from India, the charge is around ₹300 per entry. This amount will vary depending on added charges such as for syndicates and bundles, or Megapliers and additional lines.
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