Lottery officials announce bigger prizes, better odds after Mega Millions® changes in April

After the Mega Millions® drawing on April 4th, everything will change. The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery office announced on Tuesday that all the prizes except the jackpot are going to be bigger, AND it’s going to be easier to win.

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Lottery players in Arkansas will get to experience the new version of Mega Millions^®,the lottery game that has produced a record seven jackpot wins exceeding $1 billion – all won in different states – following the final drawing of the current game on Friday, April 4. 

The game will feature bigger prizes at every non-jackpot prize tier, better odds to win the jackpot, better odds overall, larger starting jackpots, and faster-growing jackpots. The first drawing under the new prize structure will be held Tuesday, April 8, at 10 p.m. Central Time.

0+1 = If you match only the Mega Ball, the prize used to be $2. After the change, the prize will be anywhere from $5 to $50, depending on the multiplier.

1+1 = If you match one number + the Mega Ball, it used to be a $4 prize, and now it’s $7-$70.

2+1 or 3+0 = If you match 2 numbers + 1 Mega Ball OR 3 numbers + no Mega Ball, the base prize is the same as it used to be – $10 – except the multiplier can make it climb anywhere up to $100.

4+0 = If you match 4 numbers + no Mega Ball, the base prize is the same as it used to be – $200 – except the multiplier can make it climb anywhere up to $2,000.

4+1 = If you match 4 numbers + the Mega Ball, the base prize is the same as it used to be – $500 – except the multiplier can make it climb anywhere up to $5,000.

5+0 = If you match 5 numbers + no Mega Ball, the base prize is the same as it used to be – $1 million – except the multiplier can make it climb anywhere up to $10 million.

5+1 = If you match 5 numbers + the Mega Ball, the rules remain that same – you’ll win the current Jackpot.

Lottery officials say there are other game enhancements: 

Improved overall odds – Overall odds to win any prize will improve to 1:23 from 1:24 due to the removal of one gold Mega Ball from the game.

Improved odds to win the jackpot – Odds to win the jackpot will improve to 1:290,472,336 from 1:302,575,350 due to the removal of one gold Mega Ball from the game. The new game will feature 24 Mega Balls instead of the 25 in the current game.

Larger starting jackpots – Following a jackpot win, the starting jackpot will reset to $50 million instead of the current $20 million.

Faster-growing jackpots & bigger jackpots more frequently – Jackpots are expected to grow faster and get to higher dollar amounts more frequently in the new game. The Mega Millions Consortium estimates that the average jackpot win in the new game will be more than $800 million vs. approximately $450 million in the current game.

2X-10X prize increase with built-in random multiplier – Every non-jackpot win will multiply its base prize by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or 10X automatically. Prizes in the new game will range from $10 to $10 million vs. the $2 to $1 million in the current game.

Win more than the cost to play – With a minimum prize of $10 on a winning ticket in the new game, every winning ticket will pay out at least double the $5 cost for each play. In the current game, the minimum prize on a winning ticket and cost to play are the same: $2.

With higher-value prizes embedded throughout every tier of the game, tickets for the new Mega Millions game will increase to $5 per play. This is only the game’s second price adjustment since the first ticket was sold more than 20 years ago and the first change since the current game matrix was adopted in 2017.

As part of the new game introduction, the “Megaplier” add-on feature that has been available for an additional $1 will be retired and replaced with the built-in multiplier.

Unless someone wins the jackpot on the April 4, 2025 drawing, the jackpot from the current game will roll into the new game and continue to grow with ticket sales from the new game. Players who have a winning ticket that was issued for a drawing prior to the game change and who claim their prize within 180 days from the draw date will be paid based on the prize matrix in effect during the time of the drawing for their ticket, regardless of when the prize is claimed. 

Since Mega Millions launched in 2002, it has produced seven winners of billion-dollar jackpots, all in different states. Since the last change in 2017 more than 1,200 players have become millionaires, an average of three millionaires per week. 

Mega Millions is a national game with tickets sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are conducted at 10 p.m. Central Time on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia. Lottery profits support a wide variety of good causes and are allocated differently in each jurisdiction.

To get help with problem gambling, contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.