Mega Millions

What is the Mega Millions Lotto?

The Mega Millions lottery is an American multi-state lottery game that offers players massive jackpots, and a whole lot of fun, too! The Mega Millions lotto is played in 43 states including the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands. Enthusiastic lottery players who like this jackpot can also become a part of the action by playing the jackpot online through various online lottery retailers.

Millions of players all over the world get tickets for every single draw, which creates astonishing jackpots that grow at a rapid rate along with the anticipation and excitement. The jackpots begin at a whopping $15 million, and they have a habit of growing to over hundreds of millions of Dollars. The game features six winning numbers, and nine different ways in which a player can win a large cash prize.

How did it originate?

The history of the Mega Millions lottery is just as fun as the game itself. In the year 2000, there was a jackpot of $363 million. Ever since then, the interest in multi-state games has been at an all-time high. As the interest in the lottery grew, so did the participants. More states wanted to get in on the action. In May 2002, New York and Ohio joined Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and Virginia to create Mega Millions!

Sales for Mega Millions began on May 15^th, in 2002. The first ever drawing took place in May 17^th, 2002. Each Mega Millions draw begins at $15 million, and because lots of people all around the world play this lottery, the jackpots grow rapidly.

Popularity for this game grew quickly, and it wasn’t long before other states joined in on the Mega Millions fun! By September 2002, Washington had already joined Mega Millions, and Texas followed soon after. In June 2005, California became the 12^th member, solidifying it as the country’s most widely played multi-state jackpot game. In the year 2010, 23 more state lotteries joined Mega Millions.

How big is it today?

The Mega Millions lottery is one of the biggest in the world, alongside the US Powerball lottery. The highest jackpots have been won in various states across the US. The $656 million jackpot was won by three lucky tickets. One came from Missouri, the other from Kansas, and the last from Washington.

Other massive jackpot wins include a $648 million win, a $536 million win, $414 million, $390 million, $380 million, and $336 million. Millions of people play this lottery because the prizes are always astonishing and life-changing.

Who can play Mega Millions?

Over the recent years, a new service has given people all over the world the opportunity to join this wonderful lottery. In the past, only Americans living in the country could participate in this lottery, but now with the creation of online ticket services, anyone can play. Online lottery ticket retailers purchase the ticket in America on your behalf. The tickets cost slightly more than a normal American Mega Millions ticket but that is because they need to do admin on your behalf to secure the ticket in the states. Without them, nobody outside of America could play this game. That means YOU are eligible to play. Start getting excited.

When can I play Mega Millions?

The Mega Millions draws take place every week on Tuesday and Friday. Draws are held at 11pm Eastern Time at WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia, and the USA. Online lottery players can therefore enter both draws every week to maximise their chances of taking home an enormous Mega Millions jackpot prize.

Mega Millions Prize Structure

Like many other big international lottery games, the Mega Millions has prize tiers for when players match a certain amount of lucky numbers. The Mega Millions prize tier is fair because even though a player doesn’t win the jackpot, they still have the chance to win a decent cash prize in the other prize tiers for matching a few of the winning numbers.

Mega Millions has a total of 9 prize tiers. The tiers begin at matching just the Mega Ball, all the way up to matching all of the five winning numbers including the Mega Ball number.

The prize tiers work like this:

Match five balls and the Mega Ball – win the Jackpot

Match five balls and 0 Mega Ball – win $1 million

Match four balls and 1 Mega Ball – win $5,000

Match four balls and 0 Mega Ball – win $500

Match three balls and 1 Mega Ball – win $50

Match three balls and 0 Mega Ball – win $5

Match two balls and 1 Mega Ball – win $5

Match 1 ball and 1 Mega Ball – win $1

Match 0 balls and 1 Mega Ball – win $1

Even small wins are great with Mega Millions, because you get to put that money towards more lottery tickets and not have to play out of your own pocket! Remember that cut-off time for buying tickets is at 10 pm- 11pm GMT on the day of the draw.

The Biggest Wins

The Mega Millions lottery holds some incredible jackpot record wins. In March 2012, a whopping $656 million was won by three lucky ticketholders in different states. On December 17^th, 2013, $636 million was won after a long 22 weeks of rollovers. The prize was shared between two lucky winners. In 2007, on March 6^th, $390 million was won by two ticketholders. The one was from New Jersey, and the other from Georgia.

Mega Millions offers players the choice of claiming their jackpot winnings in either a lump sum option, or an annuity option. An annuity means that the jackpot winnings will be paid out for over a 30 year period. US federal taxes are applied to these winnings.

Distribution of Revenue

With millions of tickets being sold for the Mega Millions lottery, what happens to all of the revenue generated? What happens to that revenue after the jackpot winners and smaller prize tier winners have been paid? Well, here’s how it works…

Revenue from the big pie is divided in three ways: Approximately 60% goes to the prize winners, 15% to the lottery retailers, marketing and operation; and 25% goes back to the states for government services to help with infrastructure, school funding, healthcare, and many other good causes.

How to play Mega Millions

Mega Millions players need to choose 6 numbers from two separate pools. Players will need to select five numbers ranging from 1 to 75, and the one number ranging from 1 to 15. You can also choose the quick pick option for the machine to generate lucky numbers for you.

The Mega Millions jackpots start at $15 million and grow in increments of $5 million per draw after each rollover happens.

Winners Page

Below, you will find a list of the ten biggest Mega Millions wins.

$656 million – 30^th March 2012 – 3 winning tickets from Kansas, Illinois, Maryland.
$648 million – 17^th December 2013 – 2 winning tickets from California and Georgia.
$536 million – 8^th July 2016 – 1 winning ticket in Indiana
$414 million – 18^th March 2014 – 2 winning tickets from Florida and Maryland.
$390 million – 6^th March 2007 – 2 winning tickets from Georgia and New Jersey.
$380 million – 4^th January 2011 – 2 winning tickets from Idaho and Washington.
$336 million – 28^th August 2009 – 2 winning tickets from California and New York.
$330 million – 31^st August 2007 – 4 winning tickets from Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia.
$326 million – 4^th November 2014 – 1 winning ticket from New York.
$319 million – 25^th March 2011 – 1 winning ticket from New York.

Winners Articles

1 – $656 million Mega Millions Win

This record-breaking Mega Millions jackpot was won on the 30^th of March in 2012. The win was shared by three lucky ticketholders. One was from Kansas, one from Illinois, and the other from Maryland. Read further for the full details.

One of the winning ticketholders from Maryland were comprised of three friends who were part of a Mega Millions syndicate together. They shared the Mega Millions jackpot with two other winning tickets from Kansas and Illinois. The winning team from Maryland in this case, won their share of $218.6 million. They called themselves the “Three Amigos”.

The winners are three friends who work together as educators in Maryland. They arrives at Lottery headquarters with their financial advisor and chose to take the cash option which worked out to $158 million. After federal taxes, the winners shared $105 million between themselves which means they each had their lives changed forever with $35 million in the bank.

“We are thrilled that three such deserving Marylanders have won this money,” said Stephen Martino, director of the Maryland Lottery. One of the winners was in her 20s, the other was a man in his 40s, and the other woman was in her 50s. They pooled their money together and bought 20 tickets for each of them, which amounted to a total of 60 Mega Millions tickets.

The youngest member looked after the tickets and checked them after the draw. “I had all 60 tickets spread across my floor. Once I realized one was a winner, I called my two friends right away,” she explained.

The other winning ticket came from Illinois where a lucky couple won their share of the $656 million Mega Millions jackpot. The Illinois winning couple are Merle and Patricia Butler. They kept their win a secret for almost three weeks. Their share of the jackpot amounted to $219 million.

“We are just everyday people who have worked hard all out life, who love our family and our city, pay our taxes and try and keep up with all the work that’s involved in owning and maintaining a house. We just happened to hit it big with the Lottery. We enjoy spending time with our family and friends, and we don’t believe that the win will change any of that. It hasn’t sunk in yet. Winning this amount of money is a major responsibility, one we take very seriously and will figure out as we go along. I’m sure we will be using some of our money to do some good, we just don’t know what it will be yet,” said Merle.

Merle bought their winning Mega Millions quick pick ticket from “Red Bud Moto Mart” in Illinois. It’s a convenience store chain operating in six states.

The last winner left is the one from Kansas. The winner chose to remain anonymous when it came time for them to come forward and claim their share of the jackpot. The Kansas winning ticket was also a quick pick. The winner needed to pay $8 million in federal taxes to the state of Kansas. Altogether, the winner received their share of the jackpot which amounted to $110.5 million.

2 – $648 million Mega Millions Win

A man from California claimed half of this jackpot won by two tickets. He only checked his ticket two weeks after the draw had taken place, too. Tran, one of the winners, is a delivery driver from Northern California. He came forward to claim half of the $648 million Mega Millions fortune.

The other winner of this jackpot was Ira Curry, age 56, who claimed her prize a day after the draw took place. Ira chose to take the money in the form of a cash option, which meant she received $120 million after federal taxes. Ira is from Stone Mountain, Georgia. Ira’s incredible lottery win came about after her hand-picked numbers won her the jackpot. Her lucky numbers were a mix of family birthdays and the lucky number 7. Ira said that her purchase decision was at the end of the day on a Friday and it was a last-minute choice.

Ira is married. She had her daughter check the results online for her after she heard a radio presenter mention that the Mega Ball was 7, like hers. She bought the winning ticket at a Gateway Newsstand in the lobby of an office building near the city’s Buckhead community.

It was between tears of joy that her daughter told her mother she was the winner. Ira, of course, was in a state of disbelief. She still couldn’t believe the news even after her daughter had confirmed the win for her. She then called her boss to tell him she wasn’t coming in to work anymore.

Tran, on the other hand, didn’t want to speak to reporters, but he did say that he bought his ticket at a San Jose gift shop and put it in a pile of other lottery tickets he bought in other towns while making runs as a delivery driver. It wasn’t until he had come back from vacation with his family that he remembered to check the ticket.

The winning numbers for this Mega Millions win were 8-14-17-20-39 and the Mega Ball 7.

3 – $536 million Mega Millions Win

This jackpot was claimed by an anonymous Indiana couple. The amazing part of this winning story is also the fact that they were first-time Mega Millions players too.

The family have chosen to remain anonymous. The winners chose a spokesperson to collect the prize on their behalf. They have two children in primary school and chose not to reveal their identities so that they can keep their lives as normal as possible. Luckily for them, Indiana law allows winners to keep their anonymity.

The family are dedicated to continuing the lives they currently have. They still want their children to go to the same schools they were going to go to anyways. They are very careful with knowing who their true friends are. The winning couple bought five quick pick tickets at a gas station along Interstate 70 near the small eastern Indiana town of Cambridge City. At the time, they were on their way to a youth sporting event.

They bought tickets for the Mega Million lottery because of the sheer size of the jackpot. The couple have decided to take the jackpot in the form of a cash option. Their prize amounted to $271 million after taxes.

The family is from Hamilton County in Indiana. They have no plans to quit their jobs any time soon. The family had played Powerball before, but this was the first time they decided to play Mega Millions because of how big the jackpot was. Cambridge City is a town of just 2,000 residents.

4 – $414 million Mega Millions Win

The third largest Mega Millions jackpot happened on the 18^th of March 2014. The massive jackpot was shared by two lucky ticketholders. One of the winners came from Maryland. That winner chose to receive their share if the jackpot in the form of a cash lump sum. They received $76.4 million after taxes.

The other jackpot winners were a couple from Florida who came forward to claim their share. They bought their winning ticket from a liquor store.

The winning Mega Millions numbers for this jackpot were 20-41-42-45-49 and the Mega Ball 14. Because no player had won the Mega Millions jackpot since the 8^th of March, the jackpot had grown steadily. This jackpot was the 10^th largest in US history. The other winning ticket came from Florida.

The Maryland winner chose to remain anonymous, but the winners from Florida were Raymond Moyer and Robyn Collier. This couple were nearly penniless before their big win. Robyn had less than $5 with her when she filed for bankruptcy. Her boyfriend was also laid off from his job at a boat-building company. Their fortunes changed when they bought a Mega Millions lottery ticket from a Sunoco gas station on Merritt Island.

“We didn’t know we had won until the next morning when the numbers were on the news. I paused the TV and ran to get the ticket to double check the numbers and when I realized they all matched, I jumped off the couch in excitement and told Raymond we had won,” explained Robyn.

Raymond couldn’t believe the news until he saw the store they had bought the ticket from being interviewed on the news. They took their prize in a lump sum format to the value of $115,448,968. They have put the money into a trust. Robyn wants to continue to work, and Raymond wants to make some investments and go travelling. They both want to go on holiday to Ireland.

5 – $390 million Mega Millions Win

This Mega Millions jackpot was won by two lucky ticketholder: one in Georgia, and the other in New Jersey. The winning numbers were 15-17-20-35-55 and the Mega Ball 7.

The two winners were Eddie Nabors from Georgia, and Elaine and Harold Messner from New Jersey. Elaine and Harold are a married couple. These winners became some of the luckiest on the planet after they won the massive $390 million Mega Millions jackpot in March 2007.

Eddie Nabors was a 52-year-old man working as a truck driver when he struck it lucky. He went into the store to buy his coffee and that’s when he saw how big the Mega Millions jackpot was. He bought himself 10 quick pick tickets.

He was living with his mother and three children, along with their six grandchildren. He didn’t expect anything after entering the draw. One of those tickets proved to be the lucky one that would change his life forever. He took home the cash option of $116.5 million that would amount to $80 million after taxes. He said that the money wouldn’t change his life and he just wanted to buy a fishing boat for the time being. He wanted to take his son bass fishing. He also planned to pay off his mother’s mortgage and buy new homes for his family.

The other winners, Elaine and Harold Messner, were equally modest about the win. They also received $80 million after taxes. “We feel very fortunate and blessed,” they said. They were able to retire early and have the retirement funds they always dreamed about. They bought their winning ticket from a liquor store around the corner form their house. Their winning numbers were also quick picks.

Harold used to work as a self-employed builder, and Elaine was a secretary to help him manage the business side of things. Harold and Elaine admitted to not being able to sleep for quite some time after realising they had won so much money. They have some ideas for what to do with the money, but they haven’t decided yet.

6 – $380 million Mega Millions Win

This Mega Millions jackpot was won by two tickets. One in Idaho, and the other in Washington. The winner from Idaho was Holly Lahti, and the other winners were Jim and Carolyn McCullar.

Holly was a single mother at the time of her win. She came from Northern Idaho. She claimed half of the $380 million Mega Millions jackpot. She is from the small town of Rathdrum. The other winners are from Ephrata, Washington.

Jim was 68 and Carolyn was 63 at the time of their win. Holly Lahti wasn’t around for the announcement in Boise. “She’s requested that the media respect her privacy and not attempt to contact her until she’s prepared to speak to you,” said Lottery director Jeff Anderson. Holly let the computer choose her winning numbers.

Jim and Carolyn McCullar were overwhelmed with the news of their win. “We’ve been married for 41 years. I know what to do with this cheque, “said Jim. At the press conference, Jim counted out the cash he had in his wallet. There was a grand total of eight dollars.

Jim bought his winning Mega Millions ticket at a supermarket in Eastern Washington. In Washington, the state doesn’t deduct taxes from lottery winnings, so Jim and his wife got to keep all of their winnings from the half that they won. They walked away with $90 million.

7 – $336 million Mega Millions Win

Two winning tickets shared this massive jackpot in 2009. The two winners were Kevyn Ogawa, from California, and Jimmy Groves from New York. Kevyn preferred not to be interviewed by the media. He chose to take his winnings in the form of a cash option. That means he took home $107 million.

Kevyn bought his winning Mega Millions ticket at Kim Ky Noodle, located in San Gabriel Boulevard. The store that sold Kevyn’s ticket received a bonus of $832,500.

The other Mega Millions jackpot winner, James “Jimmy” Groves, from New York, also won his share of the jackpot to the value of $168 million. One can only imagine the immense joy Jimmy must felt after experiencing such a big win after playing the lottery for ten years. He won recently after retiring from his job at Madison Square Garden’s where he worked for 18 years.

The win couldn’t have happened to a more deserving player! Jimmy used to live in a very poor area of the Bronx and hardly ever had a dime in his wallet. He was 49-years-old at the time of the win. He chose the lump sum option, but after a sudden change of heart, he switched to the annuity option so that he can receive $6,400,000 annually and not be tempted to spend all his money foolishly. He wants to help his kids and mom with the winnings and also wants to buy a house with a big backyard.

8 – $330 million Mega Millions Win

This enormous jackpot was shared by four lucky tickets around the US! The winners came from New Jersey, Virginia, Texas and Maryland.

The winners from New Jersey were John and Sandy Belawsky. John is a disabled veteran. He let his wife sleep in after he learned that they won a share of the $330 million jackpot. Soon after, he bought himself a new pair of pants.

He and his wife, Sandra, are a retired Cape May County couple. John is 59 and he was terrible surprised when he realised he had the winning ticket. He couldn’t wait to tell his wife after she had woken up. Once she had woken up and he told her, she wouldn’t believe him. “I thought he was fooling me,” said Sandra.

Sandra said that they haven’t been eating or sleeping, just hiding out and staying low key. They opted to take the cash option. They don’t have any plans on how they want to send the money yet. They’ve been thinking about a dream house in Florida and sharing the money with their family. They have six grown children together.

The other winners were Bernard and Tucker Adcock who are brothers that shared their portion of the jackpot. The brothers won $82.5 million and have plenty of time to figure out what’s next for them. They chose not to get the lump sum because they thought they would get more money by stretching it over 26 years.

SB Alchemy Holdings Ltd. claimed their share of the jackpot, too. They came from Texas. Bunky Bartlett was the last winner of the jackpot. Bunky said that a Tarot card foretold that he would win the lottery. He is a former accountant.

9 – $326 million Mega Millions Win

This jackpot was won by a single ticket in New York. The winner was Harold Diamond. Harold is a retired school principal from Wurtsboro and he is now one of New York’s richest residents thanks to his Mega Millions win.

He was 80-years-old at the time of this win. The soft-spoken winner said that he was driving to Middletown for dinner after voting on Election Day but the bad weather made them rethink their plans. My wife insisted that they stop at the nearest place to eat and wait for the weather to clear. Harold reluctantly agreed.

Harold noticed a big flashing sign advertising the Mega Millions jackpot and thought he’d try his luck. He bought the ticket, then put it in his wallet and forgot about it. He went to play golf the next day and his friends in the clubhouse were gossiping about the big win. That’s when Harold realised that he bought his ticket from the very same store everyone was talking about.

He dashed home to check his numbers and saw that his ticket was the winner. “I was in a real daze,” he said. His wife, Carol, is a 36-year veteran of the Goshen school district where she taught math before retiring in 1994.

Harold said he owes their fortune to his wife because if it hadn’t been for her, they wouldn’t have stopped and bought a ticket. Harold began working with an advisor to help him plan for what comes next. He took the cash option. He wants to help his family and give back to the community.

10 – $319 million Mega Millions Win

This massive Mega Millions win was shared by 7 lucky winners all from New York. It was a Mega Millions syndicate that finally struck it lucky after years of playing together. d

The seven winners are all tech state workers from Albany, New York. The leader of the syndicate, Mike Barth, was at a newsstand downtown and decided to buy a random Quick Pick ticket for the team seeing that he was also getting himself a candy bar.

“I was at the counter. It was my turn to buy a ticket when I reached down to grab a Snickers bar from the candy display and someone reached over me, actually cut in front of me to buy a ticket. I thought about saying something but decided to just let it slide. I bought the next ticket, and that small twist of fate earned us a jackpot win. It’s mind-boggling how life works sometimes,” said Mike.

Each member of the syndicate collected a cheque for $19.1 million after taxes. Mike’s co-worker friend, Gabrielle Mahar, age 29, learned that her and her fellow tech co-workers had the winning numbers. “I was up late reading and wanted to catch the numbers but missed them. I was dialling up the lottery website on my phone when the numbers scrolled across the screen. I was dumbfounded,” she explained.

As one can imagine, the news spread quickly to the other members of the group. Everyone initially thought something was wrong. As IT employees, they always got phone calls about malfunctioning servers so they figured it was just something like that. The winners haven’t decided whether they want to leave work yet, but they do have plans to buy household items, save up for their kids’ tuition, buy new tyres, and go on vacation.

Keep an eye out for Mega Millions scams

As an online lottery player you always need to take extra care when it comes to receiving emails telling you that you have won the lottery. It’s something many people want to hear, and it’s something many people fall easily into the trap of believing. The sad reality is that most of the time someone receives those emails, it’s coming from a scammer with a fake identity claiming they are affiliated with the Mega Millions lottery.

Please remember that no Mega Millions representative would ever contact you via email to tell you that you have won a huge cash prize or jackpot. Older people and vulnerable pensioners are usually the ones targeted. The lottery scams can take many forms and scammers are smart with their tricks. The scams also don’t only take the form of emails. Scam artists also call the victims. They will claim to be a representative of the Mega Millions lottery.

All these scams have one thing in common: they trick you into sending money and personal information so that they can “release” your winnings into your account. Another clever trick they do is they send you a check that is usually fake, and then ask you for money to cover the “administration” fees. Of course, it’s already too late once the person has realised that they have sent the person money, but the check is in fact counterfeit.

Follow these tips to make sure you don’t fall victim to any lottery scams:

If you receive an email telling you that you have won a lottery you’ve never entered, be very suspicious. There is no way you can win a legitimate lottery prize without having purchased a ticket for that lottery.
If the phone call has no caller ID, check the area code when they call you to tell you that “you have won”. If it’s from a foreign country, be immediately suspicious. Also be aware that these con artists use technology that allows them to hide their area code and make it seem like the call is coming from your own country. In actual fact, they could be calling from anywhere in the world.
If an email you receive contains poor grammar and spelling mistakes, that’s a big warning sign. If the person calling you is not using English as their first language then that’s another major warning sign.
If the caller asks you to keep your win confidential – what they basically mean is, don’t ask the cops about us or we will get arrested for scamming you.
No lottery in the world asks the winner for a cent if they have a prize. If you have to pay fees to collect your winnings, it means you haven’t won anything.
Just because a scammer namedrops a major lottery, it does not mean that it is a real prize. They could just be using it without any permission.
Never give your personal information or send any money until you have verified who the caller is.
They may offer to wire the winnings directly into your bank account. Never give them your banking details.
They might also tell you to verify your win by asking you to call a specific number. NEVER do this because by calling it, you might be charged a premium rate for the phone call which they profit off and which leaves you with a frightening bill.
As soon as you suspect that someone on the phone is trying to scam you, hang up immediately!

For further help and advice, you can contact the Federal Tarde Commission. They have more information regarding lottery scams and other kinds of scams. You can visit them here: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0086-international-lottery-scams

If you would like to file a complaint with them or direct their attention to something suspicious, call the toll-free number: 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).

Good luck, and stay safe online!