The Mega Millions game
Everything you need to play Mega Millions: how to pick your five numbers and Mega Ball, where to buy a ticket, the rules of the game, how to fill out a playslip, how the jackpot grows and what each of the nine prize tiers pays.
How to play Mega Millions
Pick 5 numbers and a Mega Ball, pay $5 with the multiplier built in and check your ticket after the Tuesday or Friday drawing. Everything you need for your first play.
Where to play Mega Millions
At a licensed retailer, online in the states that allow it or through a service from abroad: how each way of playing works and what to check before you pay.
Mega Millions rules: how it works and who can play
The two number pools, what your $5 play includes, the nine prize tiers, how the jackpot is paid, the claim rules and the minimum age to play in each state.
How to fill out a Mega Millions ticket
How a playslip is laid out, how to mark your numbers or ask for a Quick Pick, what each play costs and what to check on the ticket before you leave the store.
The Mega Millions jackpot: how it starts and grows
It starts at $50 million, grows every time nobody wins and has no cap. How it's estimated, why the cash value is lower and how it's paid to the winner.
Mega Millions prizes: the nine prize tiers
What you win with the Mega Ball, three, four or five numbers, how the multiplier changes each prize, the odds of every tier and how prizes are claimed and taxed.
How the Mega Millions game works
Mega Millions is a 5/70 + 1/24 lottery: in each play you pick five white balls from 1 to 70 and one gold Mega Ball from 1 to 24. It's drawn every Tuesday and Friday, and each play costs $5, a price that includes a 2X to 10X multiplier on every non-jackpot prize.
There are nine prize tiers. The top one, five white balls plus the Mega Ball, wins the jackpot, which starts at $50 million and grows with no cap until someone wins it. The smallest prize, for the Mega Ball alone, is $10. The full breakdown is in Mega Millions prizes, and how the top prize builds up in the jackpot.
Each guide in this section covers one part of the game: how to play step by step, where to play in the U.S. and online, the rules and how to fill out the ticket. After the drawing, check your numbers in the ticket checker and find the winning numbers and prize breakdown in results.