Mega Millions is the multi-state game drawn on Tuesday and Friday nights. The game changed shape in 2025, and a lot of what people remember about it is out of date. This page is the current version of the rules as of October 1, 2026, from megamillions.com, with the odds for every tier. The latest verified results are at /mega-millions/results/ and the current estimated jackpot, with its source and time, is at /mega-millions/jackpot/.
What changed in April 2025
Starting with the drawing on April 8, 2025:
- A play costs $5. There is no separate Megaplier add-on any more.
- Every play carries a built-in multiplier of 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or 10X, assigned at random when you buy and printed on the play. It applies to every non-jackpot prize on that play.
- The gold Mega Ball is drawn from 1 to 24.
- The jackpot now starts at $50 million.
- The smallest prize is $10, twice the price of a play.
If you run a pool that played Mega Millions before April 2025, note that our checker uses the rule version in force on the drawing date, so old tickets are checked under the old rules and new ones under the new.
How a play works
Pick five different numbers from 1 to 70 (the white balls) and one number from 1 to 24 (the gold Mega Ball), or ask for a quick pick. Each set is one play at $5, multiplier included. The Mega Ball only matches the Mega Ball.
Draw days and time
Drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. Eastern Time. Your state’s lottery stops selling plays for that drawing some time before; check your state page or the retailer. Our results pages publish a drawing once two official sources agree.
Prizes and odds
From megamillions.com as of October 1, 2026. The prize you receive is the base amount times the multiplier printed on your play.
| Match | Odds (1 in) | 2X | 3X | 4X | 5X | 10X |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 + Mega Ball | 290,472,336 | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot |
| 5 | 12,629,232 | $2,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $4,000,000 | $5,000,000 | $10,000,000 |
| 4 + Mega Ball | 893,761 | $20,000 | $30,000 | $40,000 | $50,000 | $100,000 |
| 4 | 38,859 | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,000 | $2,500 | $5,000 |
| 3 + Mega Ball | 13,965 | $400 | $600 | $800 | $1,000 | $2,000 |
| 3 | 607 | $20 | $30 | $40 | $50 | $100 |
| 2 + Mega Ball | 665 | $20 | $30 | $40 | $50 | $100 |
| 1 + Mega Ball | 86 | $14 | $21 | $28 | $35 | $70 |
| Mega Ball only | 35 | $10 | $15 | $20 | $25 | $50 |
The smallest possible prize is $10, which is twice the price of a play. Overall odds of winning any prize: about 1 in 23 per play.
How often each multiplier comes up, per megamillions.com: 2X about 1 in 2.13; 3X about 1 in 3.2; 4X about 1 in 8; 5X about 1 in 16; 10X about 1 in 32.
In our checker the multiplier is read from the play as the admin recorded it, so every member can see which multiplier applied to which line.
The jackpot: annuity or cash
The advertised jackpot is the annuity: an initial payment followed by 29 annual payments, each 5 percent larger than the one before. The cash value is the smaller amount available today. A winner chooses one, within a deadline set by the state. Our split calculator starts from the cash value and shows each member’s share after federal and state withholding; Ten friends, one jackpot works through a full example.
Jackpots are pari-mutuel, so our app routes them to needs-review and a manual settlement; a person confirms the official amount before any split is posted.
Odds in plain words
Every play has the same 1 in 290,472,336 chance at the jackpot, however the numbers were chosen. Ten distinct plays have ten times the chance and cost ten times as much. A pool with 20 plays holds 20 chances and splits any prize by the locked shares. The multiplier changes how much a non-jackpot prize pays, not whether you win it. Nothing changes the odds of a particular line. The arithmetic is on our honest odds page; the stories people tell are on Lottery myths.
Claiming a prize
A Mega Millions prize is claimed from the lottery of the state where the ticket was sold. Megamillions.com says claim periods “range from 90 days to one year” depending on the state. From each lottery’s own pages: in Wisconsin, 180 days after the drawing (Wisconsin Lottery FAQ, checked Oct 8, 2026); in New York, One year after the drawing (9 NYCRR 5004.14, checked Oct 8, 2026); in California, 180 days after the drawing for most prizes; one year for Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots (California Lottery claim page, checked Oct 8, 2026). Every state’s page lists its own.
Where you claim depends on the prize size, and whether your name is published depends on state law. Our state pages list each rule with its source. Sign the back of the ticket, photograph both sides, and read You won. The first five things to do. For a pool, how the lottery pays a group depends on the state, and where one person claims for the group the tax paperwork is split with IRS Form 5754; see How a pool claims a prize.
Buying online
Megamillions.com lists the states whose lotteries sell Mega Millions online to people physically inside the state, among them Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania, with New York offering subscriptions. Most states, including Wisconsin, California, Florida and Texas, sell only at retailers. ShareTheWinning never sells or buys tickets; the official ticket, bought by the Pool Admin through a lawful channel in the pool’s state, is the only real play, and our record describes it.
Mega Millions in a pool
The admin buys the plays, photographs the ticket and records every line with its printed multiplier before the drawing. Members confirm the photo. After the drawing we check every line against the verified result, post fixed-tier prizes automatically with the right multiplier, split by the locked shares to the cent, and show who owes whom. The Journey starts from tonight’s result and walks the whole path.
