Mega Millions jackpot: How to play, up your odds of winning the payout
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Can you buy your way to being a near-billionaire.
With tonight's Mega Millions lottery jackpot cresting $800 million just days after someone bought a billion-dollar Powerball payout, it's reasonable to look for ways to increase your odds.
But winning won't come easy. And it requires a little more luck — and strategy — than just rushing out to your local lottery hotspot.
Can you buy enough tickets to guarantee a Mega Millions winner?
Professor of Statistics at Rutgers University-Camden Yuchung Wang said in 2022 that it's all a numbers game.
"Two tickets (for the same drawing) will double your winning chance, say from 1/303 million to 2/303 million because each ticket has the same chance of winning," Wang explained.
But playing one ticket for each new drawing has no impact on your overall chances.
"Each game is independent of all previous games; frequently playing does not change your odds. However, buying more tickets (per game) increases your chance of winning," said Wang.
So, could you buy your way to a billon-dollar payout?
Wang says no.
Even if you could afford to buy the 303 million tickets needed to cover every possible number combination, Wang says the logistics make it nearly impossible.
"Assume it takes one second to produce one ticket — 303 million will need 35,069 days which equals 5,009 weeks to complete the task. You can use 5,009 machines that works 24/7 to produce 303 million tickets," Wang said. "It is very unlikely to complete the purchasing 303 million tickets with different numbers. In order to make sure each number is different, you need to manually enter the number, which can slow down the purchase significantly. Then, more machines will be proportionally required."
Even if you could get all 303 million tickets purchased, you could still come out a loser if there's even one additional winner.
"There is the risk of splitting the prize. In terms of making money, it is not foolproof. In terms of winning, it is theoretically foolproof, but not a practical way," Wang said.
If you win the jackpot, the Mega Millions annuity is paid out as one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments. Each payment is 5% bigger than the one before.
The cash option is one-time, lump-sum payment that is equal to all the cash in the Mega Millions jackpot prize pool.
Of course, there's also taxes. A lump-sum winner will forfeit 24 percent right off the top in federal taxes. And that's before Uncle Sam's state representatives takes a cut.
How much does it cost to play Mega Millions?
If you're still hoping to win, here's how to play:
Mega Millions tickets cost $2 each. You also can add a Megaplier for an additional dollar per play that increases non-jackpot prizes by two, three, four or five times. Tickets can be purchased at various grocery stores, gas stations and convenience stores.
You can also play the Mega Millions and other New Jersey lotteries via the Jackpocket app.
The next Mega Millions drawing goes off at 11 p.m. Tuesday.
