Chances of Winning Mega Millions Jackpot?

The chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are now 1 in 302,575,350.

And yes, that is worse than 1 in 300 million.

But read on to find out what you can do about this.

Why Is Mega Millions So Hard To Win?

Mega Millions has crazy big jackpots, typically in the hundreds of millions. Quite often now reaching over $1 billion.

But it only reaches these huge numbers because nobody wins and it rolls over so often. And it only rolls over so often because it’s so hard to win.

So why are your chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot so hard..?

Mega Millions is different to ‘normal’ lottery draws. It’s a ‘power ball’ type draw which means it’s really 2 draws – and you have to win both to get the jackpot. (You can read all about Mega Millions and how it works here)

This is normally a bad thing for the player!

But if you want to know just how bad, here’s how you work out your actual chances of winning that big jackpot…

For Mega Millions, you have to pick 5 numbers from 70. So let’s quickly work out just how many different possible combinations there are.

And you do that like this:-

70 x 69 x 68 x 67 x 66 divided by 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1
= 12,103,014 possible combinations

The Mega Ball Number Is the Killer…

You also have the ‘Mega Ball’ number, which is a separate draw of 1 number from 25.

That doesn’t seem so bad, but it actually means there are 25 more ways each of those 3 million+ possible results from above can happen.

And that does something really nasty to your chances of winning. Because to get the final result you multiply the two like this:-

12,103,014 x 25 = 302,575,350

And that means you only have a 1 in 302 million chance of winning the jackpot..!

NOTE: Most states also offer the Megaplier option – but this makes no difference at all to your chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot. You can find out why in how does the Megaplier work. It also makes no difference to the amount of the jackpot, if you win it.

That Mega Jackpot Is Tempting but You Can Do Better

The big jackpots attract a lot of players to Mega Millions. But that jackpot gets so big only because it is so damn hard to win.

That’s by design!

The lottery company sell more tickets when the prize is big. But they only get really big prizes when nobody wins, so the jackpot can roll over again and again. And that only happens if the odds of winning are really tough.

And that’s why you really only have a 1 in 302 million chance of winning that huge prize.

A Better Chance of Winning – Here’s What You Can Do

Look at the odds for the other lottery games your State runs. Pick a game with a ‘big enough’ prize but better odds.

You can instantly get 5 or 10 times the chance of winning for the same money.

“But the jackpot is so much smaller LG..?”

That’s a good thing. Do you really need to win $1 BILLION..? Wouldn’t a tiny fraction of that make all the difference to you? If so, why chase the giant jackpots when you could have a much better chance of winning all the money you’ll ever need.

And don’t forget, Mega Millions does now cost $2 per play too, so you might even find your ‘better game’ is cheaper too!

If your state doesn’t offer a game with better odds, then check out these guys who run the Florida lottery pools or check out the syndicate options here.

And make sure you get my free lottery tips emails from here. They could make all the difference. 🙂