Game Info
- Draw the day and time: Tuesdays and Fridays at 23:00 EST
- Numbers to pick: Five numbers from 1 to 70 + one Gold Ball number from 1 to 25
- Win odds: 1 in 24 for any prize
- Jackpot odds: 1 in 302,575,350
- Minimum Jackpot: $20 million (around ₹1.6 billion)
- Biggest Jackpot: $1.6 billion (around ₹135 billion)
The US famous lottery, Mega Millions, started its journey as The Big Game back in 1996, and it shortly became an international sensation. After being rebranded into The Big Game Mega Millions in 2002, it took the current format, attracting players from more than 45 US states.
It wasn’t long before it spread to the international market, so Indian players can either buy a Mega Millions ticket online or do it from one of the retail locations. Prizes are sometimes north of $1 billion, making it the biggest lottery in the world. For that reason, we felt like it was our duty to bring the game closer to Indian players through our all-in Mega Millions analysis.
After reading this guide, you’ll know how the game’s seemingly confusing terms, like the Megaplier or the Mega Millions Jackpot, work, where to buy the tickets, and how to play. Stick around and learn how to maximise your winning chances today!
The Latest Mega Millions Lottery Results — Recent Draw Details
Considering that Mega Millions is a US State Lottery, you won’t be able to find the results on the national lottery page in India. However, you can easily check the Mega Millions lottery results today online as follows:
- Visit the official Mega Millions website, and you’ll see the latest draw results displayed on the home page.
- Use the Mega Millions checker online to enter your numbers and see if there was a match in the last 30 days (or up to 5 years ago).
- If you’re using an online lottery concierge, you can try looking for the latest Mega Millions results on their page. Just make sure to select the right date.
We have to state that if you’re using online services to buy tickets for Mega Millions India, be sure to check the legitimacy of such a service beforehand. We’ve seen plenty of cases where players couldn’t cash out their winnings and ended up scammed by the service provider.
What Is the Mega Millions Lottery?
The Mega Millions lottery has two separate pools of numbers — a “white” pool with numbers from 1 to 70 and the “golden” Mega Ball pool with numbers from 1 to 25. You’ll be choosing five white numbers and a single option from the golden Mega Ball pool.
If you guess all six numbers on a ticket, you’ll win the Mega Millions jackpot. Naturally, you can receive lower prizes of up to $1 million (close to ₹80 million) for hitting all the white numbers right. The single Mega Millions ticket price is $2, and hitting the golden Mega Ball, even without any white balls, would mean getting your cash back. However, the price is set to jump to $5 in April 2025, raising the bar for potential winnings.
The draw is held twice a week — once every Tuesday and Friday in the US, streamed live from the main TV studio in Atlanta, Georgia. There is a fun twist to the game through Megaplier — a random 2x–5x multiplier awarded to non-jackpot winnings.
Mega Millions Lottery Ticket Price
As mentioned, the Mega Millions ticket price is going to be $5 starting April 2025, and it’s only going to be the second time the cost has been increased in more than 20 years. That also means you would need at least four balls for a $200–$500 prize and five balls for a $10,000 prize.
According to the consortium behind the brand, the increase will have somewhat of a positive effect on the players through higher winning frequency and bigger jackpots.
Naturally, you’ll have to pay more if you want to max out on the extras. So, buying a single ticket with the Multiplier is worth an extra dollar. In total, that would be $6 (or around ₹506) with the additional feature.
There’s also an option to buy a “Just the Jackpot” ticket in certain US states, so you might be able to get them from India as well by paying $3 per ticket to get in line for the jackpot alone.
You can buy Mega Millions tickets from 47 localities in 45 US states, but only if you are physically present in the country. Since the tickets are not sold outside of the US, the only alternative would be to purchase them using the best lottery concierge services online in India.
| Mega Millions Ticket Price in 2024 | New Mega Millions Ticket Price for 2025 | New Ticket Price With the Megaplier | “Just the Jackpot” Ticket Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2 | $5 | $6 | $3 |
Draw Schedule
Mega Millions hosts two official draws every week, and the jackpot prizes grow until they’re won. You can watch the draw every Tuesday and Friday at 11 PM US time. For Indian players, that means it would be 8:30 AM on Thursdays and Sundays. If that’s too early for you, it’s always possible to check your Mega Millions result on the official results page on the main website.
You can also look up the latest draw by typing Mega Millions in your browser and clicking on the main site. Time frames for the drawings are always the same, so you don’t have to worry about them abruptly changing.
Mega Millions Draw Schedule
| US Time | Indian Time |
|---|---|
| Tuesday at 11:00 PM | Thursday at 8:30 AM |
| Friday at 11:00 PM | Sunday at 8:30 AM |
How to Play Mega Millions
The best way to play Mega Millions is through the official website, locally, or an online lottery concierge if you’re playing internationally from India. You first have to buy a ticket and follow these steps to make a valid pick:
- Pick your numbers — Regardless of whether you opt-in for Mega Millions play online or buy the actual ticket, you’ll first have to select your numbers. Choose five numbers from the first pool of 1–70 white balls and one from the Golden Ball pool.
- Mark your picks — The next step is to mark the numbers on a corresponding board. You just need to fill in the circles adequately, and if you make a mistake, you can hit the “void” circle and proceed by marking your picks on another board.
- Clearly designate the numbers — The only reason why your picks might not be accepted is if you’ve used red ink or have erased the picks instead of marking them void in case of a mistake.
- Check the Megaplier option — If you wish to add the multiplier chance to non-jackpot winnings, you can also select the Megaplier option and pay the extra fee.
That’s it; from there, you’ll just need to follow the drawing or check your results afterwards. Just note that the Megaplier works differently — you just need to circle the Megaplier option if you want to use it, and non-jackpot prizes might get multiplied by 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x.
Probability of Winning and Winning Categories
If you’re wondering about your winning chances, it’s 1 to 24 when it comes to claiming any win, and that even includes the $2 Mega Ball hit. However, it’s all worth it, considering the jackpot prizes of up to $1.6 billion. Here’s a chart with all the winning probabilities, odds, and your estimated prizes:
| Match | Winning Probability | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 5 numbers + Mega Ball | 1 in 302,575,350 | Jackpot ($20 million or more) |
| 5 numbers | 1 in 12,607,306 | $1 million |
| 4 numbers + Mega Ball | 1 in 931,001 | $10,000 |
| 4 numbers | 1 in 38,792 | $500 |
| 3 numbers + Mega Ball | 1 in 14,547 | $200 |
| 3 numbers | 1 in 606 | $10 |
| 2 numbers + Mega Ball | 1 in 693 | $10 |
| One number + Mega Ball | 1 in 89 | $4 |
| Mega Ball | 1 in 37 | $2 |
| Overall Chance of Winning | 1 in 24 | / |
Tips for Winning on Mega Millions
Knowing your odds for winning the lottery is a great start to understanding the reward-risk ratio, but are there any real winning tips for games like Mega Millions? As it turns out, there are some pointers you might find useful. Of course, copying what you’ve seen in Jerry & Marge Go Large would be risky business, so you might want to start small.
If you wish to maximise your winning chances without exceeding your budget, you can consider these:
- Try different number combinations — It is a good idea to purchase several tickets and pursue completely different combinations. Since all of them theoretically have the same chance of hitting, mixing things up can’t hurt.
- Keep track of the jackpot — It’s true that the Mega Millions jackpot is very unpredictable, and there’s no way of knowing when it will hit. However, keeping track of it and comparing it with previous hitting points can be useful.
- Use the Megaplier option — Since the price of the ticket will go up, the Megaplier is a good investment if you can afford it. After all, it’s always handy to always have an active multiplier on non-jackpot winnings for a small fee.
- Try using lottery tools — Using one or two lottery tools from time to time can’t harm your winning chances. Of course, there’s no absolute strategy for winning, but it’s at least fun to try new things and different combinations. You never know — you might get lucky.
Mega Millions Jackpot and Biggest Wins
The story of Mega Millions winners is a long one, bearing in mind that the game has been around since 1996. However, the format is not your typical lottery with decent payouts for moderate hits — this one is more of a “go big or go home” type of thing.
You’ll see the biggest jackpots ever recorded in any lottery. The list of big winners goes back to 2002 when the Mega Millions jackpot was introduced. Since then, players have repeatedly found themselves on the list of the top 10 biggest US lottery winnings ever recorded.
Pat and Dick Warren of Hoquiam struck gold with a $93 million hit in 2002, the biggest jackpot on the show at the time. Since then, the bar has been raised considerably, with even bigger wins going well over the $100 million line two times in 2003. Meanwhile, the first $294 million jackpot was claimed in 2004. On August 8, 2023, Saltines Holdings LLC won the record-breaking $1.6 billion ticket.
| Jackpot | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| $1.6 billion | Florida | August 2023 |
| $1.537 billion | South Carolina | October 2018 |
| $1.337 billion | Illinois | July 2022 |
| $1.128 billion | New Jersey | March 2024 |
| $ 1.050 billion | Michigan | January 2021 |
Getting and Withdrawing Your Winnings — How Does It Work?
If you’ve won any prize through Mega Millions, you’ll have 90 days to 1 year from the draw date to claim it. It’s even possible to share your winnings. You can choose between two different payout options — the annuity one or the cash option.
The jackpot amount will be significantly reduced for the cash option fee and the taxes, so it could be way lower than initially claimed. For instance, Sol Living Trust of Sugar Land’s $810 million win in September this year became $409.3 million after choosing the cash option.
If you go with the annuity option, you’re entitled to the starting annual payment, followed by 29 annual payments, each one 5% larger than the previous.
Mega Millions India
You can only play the Mega Millions lottery in India through an online concierge since the official Mega Millions website does not sell tickets internationally. However, that carries certain risks since you might face some shady agencies.
So, you can either visit the US lottery site to buy tickets or use one of the reputable services that we’ve rated. A trustworthy concierge should not include any fees for buying Mega Millions tickets, and they will offer immediate currency conversion in INR.
Taxes on Mega Millions Winnings
While Indian authorities do not impose international taxes on Mega Millions players, you’ll still be obligated to pay the tax in the US. So, you’ll need to cover the income tax imposed by the state in which you bought the ticket.
To inquire about the income tax by a US state, you can contact your lottery agent in India or visit the official IRS site. On average, it’s somewhere around 24% of your jackpot amount, and that’s just the federal tax. So, you might need to cough up even more if the state imposes income taxes along with the federal ones.
Summary
Mega Millions is a lottery game for players with a winner’s attitude, and the incredible jackpot prizes attest to that. You can win life-changing sums of money to secure yourself and generations to follow, with staggering amounts often counting in USD billions. We hope that this guide has given you all the edge you’ll need to fill out that winning ticket. Good luck!