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Mega Millions

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File:Mega Millions logo.png
Mega Millions logo

Mega Millions is a multi-jurisdictional $1 lottery game in the United States. Since May 2002, Mega Millions' advertised jackpots have started at US $12 million paid over 26 years, increasing when there is no jackpot winner.[1] Reflecting common practice among American lotteries, the jackpot is advertised as a nominal value of annual installments. A lump sum (cash value) option, when chosen by a jackpot winner (see below), pays the approximate present value of the installments. Mega Millions currently uses a 5/56 (white balls) + 1/46 (the Mega Ball) matrix to select it's winning numbers. Each ticket cost players $1 for the base game and in some jurisdictions players may opt to pay an extra $1 to enhanse their non-jackpot winning prizes up to 4x with the Megaplier. Mega Millions is drawn at 11 PM Eastern time on every Tuesday and Friday, including all holidays. The drawings are held in Atlanta, Georgia[2]. Cutoff for ticket sales is 15 minutes before the scheduled drawing.

Mega Millions currently holds the record for the largest Jackpot offered by a Lottery set back on March 6th, 2007 when the advertised Jackpot was $390 million.

The expansion of Mega Millions and Powerball in 2010

On October 13, 2009, the Mega Millions consortium and Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) reached an agreement in principle to cross-sell Mega Millions and Powerball in U.S. lottery jurisdictions. The expansion occurred on January 31, 2010, as twenty three Powerball members began selling Mega Millions tickets for their first drawing on February 2nd, 2010. On the same day ten Mega Million members began selling Powerball tickets for their first drawing on February 3, 2010. This resulted in Mega Millions being played in 35 jurisdictions and Powerball now being played in 43 jurisdictions. Thirty-three now sell tickets for both games.

California and Ohio remain the two Mega Million states selling Mega Money but not Powerball and though it's expected they as well as the 12 Powerball only jurisdictions may also offer both games in the future, possibly as soon as the spring of 2010. It is likely this cross-selling arrangement is a temporary measure as the Lotteries investigate the possibility of merging the two games to establish a single national lottery.[3]

Current and future participating members

U.S. jurisdictions with Mega Millions, as of January 31, 2010; the District of Columbia also participates.
U.S. jurisdictions with rival Powerball, as of January 31, 2010; the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands also participate. Thirty-three jurisdictions sell both games

PB = Powerball (Lotto America until April 1992); MM = Mega Millions (The Big Game until May 2002)

Both Powerball and Mega Millions

Mega Millions Only

  • California (PB in Spring 2010) (MM 2005)
  • Ohio (PB in Spring 2010) (MM 2002)

Mega Millions Maybe?

History

Big Game

The Big Game logo prior to the Mega Millions name change.

Tickets went on sale in Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia on August 31, 1996, for the new lottery then known as The Big Game. Drawings were held weekly on Fridays.

The Georgia Lottery was a member of the MUSL and the time and wanted to sell both games for the remainder of that year; however, within a few days, Georgia was forcibly removed from MUSL only returning after the 2010 cross-selling expansion of both games was underway.

Beginning in January 1999, jackpot winners had the choice to claim the prize in cash.

In May 1999, New Jersey joined The Big Game, the only state to do so before the change to Mega Millions.

Big Game Mega Millions

New York and Ohio joined The Big Game on May 15, 2002. This was when the game was changed to its second name, The Big Game Mega Millions, temporarily retaining the old name, and its "gold ball" logo. Also, the "Big Money Ball" changed its name to the "Mega Ball." After the game's name was altered, the yellow ball in the logo of the Mega Millions read "The Big Game." The first (The Big Game) Mega Millions drawing was held on May 17, 2002. Three more states later joined: Washington (September 2002), Texas (2003), and California (2005). California was the last addition to Mega Millions before the cross-sell expansion of 2010.

Along with the addition of Teaxs to Mega Millions in 2003, came the introduction of the Megaplier a similar feature to the Powerball PowerPlay. None of the other Lotteries added the Megaplier to thier offering, and when California joined it opted out of the Megaplier as well.

On June 24, 2005, to commemorate California joining Mega Millions, the drawing was held in Hollywood, with Carrie Underwood assisting Glenn Burns for the draw.

On November 15th, 2005 a group called "The Lucky 7" held the single ticket winning the $315 million Mega Millions drawing. Their lump sum prize was $175.0 million.[8] This remains the largest prize won by a single ticket in Mega Millions.

On March 6, 2007, the Mega Millions advertised jackpot reached $390 million[9] , which is the record for the largest advertised jackpot total of any Lottery. The jackpot was divided by two tickets which matched the winning numbers of 16-22-29-39-42 MB 20 and both winners elected to receive their prize as a lump sum payment of $116,557,083.[10]

Cross-sell Expansion of 2010

New Jersey, as well as some other lotteries, in early 2009, announced it would seek permission to sell Powerball tickets alongside Mega Millions. In October 2009, an agreement between Mega Millions and MUSL allows all US lotteries, including New Jersey, to offer both games. On January 31st, 2010 Mega Millions expanded to include 22 of the original Powerball state Lotteries as well as the DC Lottery. The 22 states that now sell Mega Millions include: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. There are now 35 jurisdictions participating in Mega Millions. On the same day 10 existing Mega Million states began selling Powerball tickets. Only California and Ohio remain as the only two states to sell Mega Million exclusively.

Presumably due to thier experience with the PowerPlay option for the Powerball game, all 23 Lotteries that joined Mega Millions as part of this expansion decided to offer the Megaplier option to thier players. The Megaplier number continues to be drawn by the Texas Lottery computers.

Playing the game

Basic Game

Since June 2005,[11] a player picks, or allows the Mega Millions computer to pick, five different numbers from 1 to 56 (white balls) and one number from 1 to 46 (the Mega Ball number, a gold-colored ball).[12] The Mega Ball number is drawn from a separate machine, so it can be a duplicate of one of the white ball numbers. The Mega Ball number cannot cross over to be used for matching a white ball number, or vice versa. Each play (a selection of six numbers for one draw) costs $1. Tickets may be obtained from either retail locations, or by mail in select states (currently, only Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Virginia offer subscriptions by mail).

Like most games that use power or bonus balls, two machines are used. The model used is the Criterion II, manufactured by Smartplay International of Edgewater Park, New Jersey. The balls are moved around by means of counter-rotating arms which mix the balls in a random fashion. One by one, the winning numbers drop through a hole in the bottom of the mixing drum. To show the difference between which numbers are which, the balls in the first machine are white; the Mega Balls are gold.

Previous incarnations of The Big Game and Mega Millions have had different matrices:

Date Pick 5 out of Pick 1 out of
September 9, 1996 50 25
January 13, 1999 50 36
May 15, 2002 (became Big Game Mega Millions) 52 52
June 22, 2005 (current) 56 46

Megaplier (optional)

Mega Millions players in 24 of the 35 jurisdictions have the option to activate a multiplier called Megaplier: functionally similar to the Powerball PowerPlay. By doubling the wager, players have an opportunity to multiply any non-jackpot prize by 2x, 3x, or 4×. The Megaplier is drawn in Texas by a random number generator). However, the Megaplier differs from Powerball in three ways. 1. There is no 5x multiplier. 2. The 5+0 prize is not garunteed to pay 4x in Mega Millions. 3. The odds for each Megapliers to be seleteced is not uniform. The 4x multiplier is heavily weigted so that it has a 12 in 21 chance of being selected.[13]

Megaplier Odds
2x 2:21 (9.5%)
3x 7:21 (33.3%)
4x 12:21 (57.1%)

Despite not having a 5x possibility, the extra weigthing for higher multiplier results in the average expected Megaplier to be 3.476x over the long term. This is similar to the Powerball's Powerplay long term expectation of just over 3.5x.

The Kicker (Ohio)

Mega Millions players in Ohio can play an add-on game, called The Kicker, for an extra $1 per ticket (rather than per game). Six digits (0-9) are printed on every Ohio Mega Millions ticket below the Mega Millions numbers, whether or not The Kicker is played. A The Kicker ticket matching all six digits in exact order wins $100,000; there are smaller prizes also available. This option will continue to be available only in Ohio despite the January 31, 2010, expansion of Mega Millions to MUSL members. The Kicker has been an exclusive Ohio Lottery add-on game that began in 1988 to its former Super Lotto game. "The Kicker" has been an Ohio Lottery add-on game to Mega Millions since 2005.

Winning and odds

As of 2009, a player wins a prize according to the following chart:

Matches[14] Prize Approximate
probability
of winning
Normal balls
(pool of 56) 		Mega ball
(pool of 46)
5 1 Jackpot[15] 1 in 175,711,536[16]
5 0 $250,000 1 in 3,904,701[17]
4 1 $10,000 1 in 689,065[18]
4 0 $150 1 in 15,313[19]
3 1 $150 1 in 13,781[20]
3 0 $7 1 in 306[21]
2 1 $10 1 in 844[22]
1 1 $3 1 in 141[23]
0 1 $2 1 in 75[24]

Overall odds: 1-40.

In California, the amounts for all prizes are paid on a parimutuel basis, rather than the fixed lower-tier amounts for winners in the other 34 Mega Millions lotteries.

Currently, Mega Millions (1:~176 million) has better jackpot odds than Powerball (1:~195 million).

To put these odds in perspective, in the US in 2008 there were 1.03 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.[25] A person living one mile from a retailer selling Mega Million Lottery tickets is 3.6 times as likely to die in an accident traveling to and from that store (2 miles) than winning the Mega Millions jackpot on a $1 play. Jackpot wining odds = 1 in 176 million; death odds = 2 miles * 1.03 deaths/100 million miles); 1 jackpot = 2 * 1.03 * 176 million / 100 million = 3.63 deaths.

Payment Options

In Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas, players must also choose, in advance, whether they wish to collect a jackpot in lump sum or annuity. Georgia and New Jersey winners can change an annuity ticket to cash; however, the choice is binding in New York, Oklahoma and Texas.

If a jackpot prize is not claimed within the required time limit, each of the participating Mega Millions members get back all the money they contributed to that jackpot. The 35 jurisdictions use unclaimed prizes for different purposes; an unclaimed Mega Millions jackpot prize is distributed mostly to education.[26][27]

In 2007, a $31 million prize went unclaimed in New York.[28] Secondary prizes of $250,000 are unclaimed in many states, including several in Michigan for 2007 drawings.[29]

Claiming Prizes

Mega Millions winners have either 180 days (California non-jackpot prizes only) or one year to claim prizes, including the jackpot (although some Mega Millions winners lose the right to collect a jackpot in cash if they wait more than 60 days after the drawing).

The minimum age to purchase a Mega Millions ticket is 18, except in Iowa, where it is 21. Generally (an exception is Virginia), minors can win on tickets received as gifts; the rules according to each Mega Millions member vary for minors receiving prizes. (Three future Mega Millions members have a higher minimum age than 18 for purchasing tickets.)

Laws and regulations vary slightly and are governed by the applicable laws in the jurisdiction where the ticket is sold, and the winner's home residence (e.g. if a New Jerseyan buys a winning ticket near their workplace in Manhattan.) Mega Millions winnings are generally exempt from state income tax in California; Texas and Washington have no state income tax. On the other hand, residents of New York City and Yonkers, New York pay city tax in addition to state and federal taxes.

The draw

Drawings are usually held at WSB-TV in Atlanta at 11:00 PM Eastern time on Tuesdays and Fridays. Formerly, the host was WSB's chief meteorologist, Glenn Burns. Now, most drawings are hosted by the new full-time host of the Georgia Lottery drawings, John Crow, with Courtney Cason subbing on occasion. For larger jackpots in excess of $200 million, the drawing is sometimes moved to Times Square in New York City, with New York Lottery announcer Yolanda Vega hosting the draw.

Mega Millions is the only multi-state lottery whose drawings are carried nationally instead of only airing in participating lottery states as WGN-TV in Chicago simulcasts the drawings on its national WGN America superstation feed on Tuesdays and Fridays immediately following WGN-TV's 9 p.m. newscast.

Record jackpots

Cash Value Advertised Jackpot Drawing Date Winners Description
$233.114M $390M March 6, 2007 Two ticket holders (GA, NJ) World's largest advertised jackpot
$180M $363M May 9, 2000 Two ticket holders (IL, MI) Largest The Big Game jackpot
$214M $336M August 28, 2009 Two ticket holders (CA, NY) NY Winner elected annuity
$194.461M $330M August 31, 2007 Four Winners
$175M $315M November 15, 2005 Anaheim, CA Largest single winning MM ticket (7 claimants)

Miscellany

The attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 resulted in the state of New York passing legislation that included joining a multi-state lottery game. Separately, Ohio also voted as such. Both states opted to join the then-Big Game (on May 15, 2002) and its seven members. The added populations of the two new states, in turn, led to a larger double matrix (actually, the first machine continued to hold 52 balls, while 16 gold balls were added in the second, meaning there were 52 numbers to pick from in each part of a $1 game.) At this time, the game was renamed Mega Millions.

In 2005, Mega Millions was the target of a mailing scam. A scam letter bearing the Mega Millions logo was used in a string of lottery scams designed to trick people into providing personal financial information by cashing bogus checks. The letter, which has been sent to people in several states via standard mail, includes a check for what the scammers say is an unclaimed "Mega Millions" prize. If the check was cashed, it bounced, but not before the bank stamped it with a routing number and personal account information and sent it back to the fraudulent organization, providing them with the recipients' financial information.[30]

A budget impasse due to the 2006 New Jersey State Government shutdown led to the temporary closing of less important state agencies on July 1, 2006. Among the casualties were the Atlantic City casinos and the New Jersey Lottery. Not only were the in-state games (such as New Jersey Pick 6) not drawn for about a week, but all its lottery terminals were shut down, meaning Mega Millions could not be played in New Jersey, even though Mega Millions was drawn as usual.

Elecia Battle made national headlines in January 2004 when she claimed that she had lost the winning ticket in the Mega Millions lottery drawing of December 30, 2003.[31] She then filed a lawsuit against the woman who had come forward with the ticket, Rebecca Jemison. Several days later, when confronted with contradictory evidence, she admitted that she had lied.[32] She was charged with filing a false police report the following day. As a result of this false report, Battle was fined $1,000, ordered to perform 50 hours of community service, and required to compensate the police and courts for various costs incurred.[33]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ FAQs, Mega Millions, Retrieved on 2009-01-12
  2. ^ http://www.megamillions.com/faqs/#4
  3. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_bi_ge/us_national_lottery_2
  4. ^ http://www.coloradolottery.com/index.cfm/id/66/newsid/341/
  5. ^ http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_lottery/2010/02/florida-lottery-no-decision-on-mega-millions.html
  6. ^ http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_lottery/2009/10/florida-lottery-hasnt-decided-if-it-wants-mega-million.html
  7. ^ http://www.nelottery.com/article.xsp?aid=2032
  8. ^ http://www.megamillions.com/winners/winner.asp?bioID=94FAEA2C-A966-44C3-8D6C-620756BEDFBA&startItem=1
  9. ^ Megamillions.com
  10. ^ Megamillions.com
  11. ^ Michigan Lottery Through the Years, State of Michigan, Retrieved on 2009-01-12
  12. ^ How To Play, Mega Millions, Retrieved on 2009-01-12
  13. ^ http://www.molottery.com/mega_millions/mega_millions.jsp
  14. ^ Matches are uniform in all Mega Millions jurisdictions, except in California, where all prizes, including the jackpot, are pari-mutuel (payouts are based on sales and the number of winners.) All other Mega Millions states set the second through ninth prizes at pre-determined amounts, although in rare cases they can be reduced.
  15. ^ If more than one person wins the jackpot, the prize is equally divided among the winning tickets. Winners have one year to collect the jackpot; for other prizes, the deadline also is one year, except in California, where it is 180 days. Other than in New York and Texas (see above), a jackpot winner has 60 days from the drawing, or in some states, 60 days after claiming, to choose cash or annuity. Relative value of a prize paid in lump sum fluctuates, and is roughly 60% of the annuity amount. The minimum jackpot prize is $12 million, disbursed in 26 annual payments, or a cash payout of about $7 million.
  16. ^ Google.com
  17. ^ Google.com
  18. ^ Google.com
  19. ^ Google.com
  20. ^ Google.com
  21. ^ Google.com
  22. ^ Google.com
  23. ^ Google.com
  24. ^ Google.com
  25. ^ DOT.gov
  26. ^ Frequently Asked Questions
  27. ^ What Happens to Unclaimed Prizes?
  28. ^ Many major U.S. lottery prizes unclaimed - UPI.com
  29. ^ Michigan.gov , Lottery - Top Unclaimed Prizes
  30. ^ Mega Millions Logo Officials Warn of Lottery scams - ScamFraudAlert
  31. ^ "Women argue over 'lost' jackpot". BBC News. 2004-01-06. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  32. ^ "Midwest: Ohio: Apology For Lottery Claim". The New York Times. 2004-01-09. Retrieved 2008-02-19. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  33. ^ "Midwest: Ohio: Lottery Tale Costs Her $6,596". The New York Times. 2004-04-07. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
Preceded by World's largest lottery jackpot
May 9, 2000–February 18, 2006 		Succeeded by
Preceded by World's largest lottery jackpot
March 6, 2007–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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