Mega Millions Prize Structure
Playing Mega Millions has never been easier. All you need is to know about playing, prize structure, and claiming your winnings in India and outside the USA.
Don’t let the confusion of online lottery prevent you from winning. Mega Millions prizes in the USA are known worldwide for their big individual payouts.
In this article, you’ll learn how you can play in India, how to collect your prizes, ticket prices, prize structures, and more. Find out all you need to know below and let the games begin!
Understanding Mega Millions
Mega Millions is an exhilarating weekly USA lotto and is one of the highest cash payouts for chance games. It is also world-renowned as the biggest pay-out for individual tickets.
It prides itself on being some of the biggest jackpots globally, and players can join all across the world.
Lottery draw time
Set your clocks to Eastern time to not miss the chance to watch. At 11 p.m (ET) twice a week (Friday / Tuesday), the draw is set to start.
You can watch the lottery and jackpot drawing on WSB TV or a streaming platform that reaches their channel.
Ticket Prices
A Mega Million ticket costs only $2, or around ₹150, with the prospect of scoring massive wins.
‘Just the jackpot’
At $3 this gives players two chances at winning the ultimate treasure. With this, players can only score the jackpot, which is one tier of the nine available.
Jackpot: past wins and present amount
The current estimated jackpot is sitting at a cost 20 million dollars and will keep growing each week until someone can claim it.
As of September 2021, a New Yorker won, worth 431 million dollars. This win followed a jackpot of 516 million dollars on May 21 and many others in 2021 alone.
Jackpots and other prize values are based on the sales of tickets. With more people playing every year, the potential keeps increasing.
Mega Millions and Megaplier Odds and Payouts
| Numbers matched | Without Megaplier | With Megaplier | ||||||||
| Amount | Odds | 2X | 3X | 4X | 5X | |||||
| Amount | Odds | Amount | Odds | Amount | Odds | Amount | Odds | |||
| 5 + 1 | Jackpot | 1 / 302,575,350 | Jackpot | 1 / 3 | Jackpot | 1 / 2.5 | Jackpot | 1 / 5 | Jackpot | 1 / 15 |
| 5 | $1 million | 1 / 12,607,306 | $2 million | 1 / 3 | $3 million | 1 / 2.5 | $5 million | 1 / 5 | $5 million | 1 / 15 |
| 4 + 1 | $10,000 | 1 / 931,001 | $20,000 | 1 / 3 | $30,000 | 1 / 2.5 | $50,000 | 1 / 5 | $50,000 | 1 / 15 |
| 4 | $500 | 1 / 38,792 | $1,000 | 1 / 3 | $1,500 | 1 / 2.5 | $2,500 | 1 / 5 | $2,500 | 1 / 15 |
| 3 + 1 | $200 | 1 / 14,547 | $400 | 1 / 3 | $600 | 1 / 2.5 | $1,000 | 1 / 5 | $1,000 | 1 / 15 |
| 3 | $10 | 1 / 606 | $20 | 1 / 3 | $30 | 1 / 2.5 | $50 | 1 / 5 | $50 | 1 / 15 |
| 2 + 1 | $10 | 1 / 693 | $20 | 1 / 3 | $30 | 1 / 2.5 | $50 | 1 / 5 | $50 | 1 / 15 |
| 1 + 1 | $4 | 1 / 89 | $8 | 1 / 3 | $12 | 1 / 2.5 | $20 | 1 / 5 | $20 | 1 / 15 |
| Mega Ball | $2 | 1 / 37 | $4 | 1 / 3 | $6 | 1 / 2.5 | $10 | 1 / 5 | $10 | 1 / 15 |
There are nine different ways you can win this lotto, each with different odds. Prizes start at $2 for scoring the Megaball alone, up to the jackpot, won when a player matches all the numbers and the Megaball.
The overall odds of winning are 1/24.
The Megaplier is an additional option to help increase your odds and non-jackpot prize winnings, up to five times their original rate. A single line is only an extra $1.
The Megaplier is randomly selected just before each draw, applying a 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x multiplier for all winners who chose to participate.
A quick guide to playing the Mega Millions lottery online:
Visit a website that sells online, like TheLotter or PlayHugeLottos
- Sign up by creating an account and decide on your preferred method of payment
- Once signed up, select ‘Mega Millions’
- Choose how many tickets you want to purchase, and any bonuses or syndicates
- Select the numbers you want to play, or let the computer decide
- Pay for the lotto ticket online
- Then, tune into the live stream and watch for your numbers
Claiming your Mega Millions winning ticket: what you should know
Fortunately, anyone can play and win the Mega Millions lottery. When played online, you’ll be notified via the contact details provided.
Your lottery prize will be deposited directly in the account you opened with the online lottery service.
If you win the jackpot, you’ll most likely need to claim in-person from the state’s lottery headquarters. Verification will be done via mail online, but to claim your jackpot, you may have to travel to the States.
Travel sounds perfect if you win hundreds of millions of dollars.
There are two options for how you can receive your lottery prize payout:
- Cash payout
- Annuity
The time frame to claim your lottery ticket varies from country to country, but the general window of time is between 90 and 180 days.
Cash payout
Also known as the lump sum, this method of payment allows you to receive all of the money at once.
The downside is the history of winners receiving such large sums of money, leading to overspending and falling further into poverty.
The upside is that you don’t risk the value of your winnings lowering over the years, based on a country’s economy.
Annuity
This method allows you to receive a cheque every week for 30 years.
The initial tax is much less, but you will then be at the mercy of an ever-changing economy. You could risk losing your valuable winnings or receiving far less than the initial win.
Taxes on the winning payouts for non-residents of the US:
- Prizes up to $599.99 are tax-free
- Lotto winnings between $600 and $4999.99 are subject to a 30% tax rate
- Prize winnings above $5000 are subject to a 38.82% tax rate.
As the saying goes, you can’t win if you never play. It could be you to hold that beautiful white cheque next.
I transform my interest in lotteries to useful articles.
