Friday is the final Mega Millions game as we know it. New rules to know as ticket prices increase

Enjoy those $2 Mega Millions lottery tickets while they last.

Friday, April 4 is the lottery game’s final drawing under it’s current structure, before a “new version” of the Mega Millions game takes effect for the Tuesday, April 8 drawing, according to a release.

The game, the release said, will offer “bigger prizes at every non-jackpot prize tier, better odds to win the jackpot, better odds overall, larger starting jackpots, and faster-growing jackpots.”

It will also cost more to play, at $5 a ticket.

“Beyond big jackpots, players told us they want bigger non-jackpot prizes and that’s exactly what this new game delivers,” Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium said in the release. “Players who had won $2 in the old game will now take home $10, $15, $20, $25 or $50 under this game.”

Search continues for Illinois winner of $349 million Mega Millions jackpot

Johnston went on to say that those who had won $500 under the old rules would now take home either $1,000, $2,000, $2,500, or $5,000 under the new version.

“Non-jackpot prizes at every level are going up by 2X to 10X,” Johnston said.

The changes were first announced in October of 2024.

Ahead of its 10 p.m. drawing Friday, the Mega Millions jackpot stood at $43 million.

“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,” the release said.

As the new game approaches, here’s what to know.

Breaking down the big Mega Millions changes to know about

Starting with the April 8 drawing, ticket prices will increase from $2 to $5.

The game also comes with a new prize matrix, which can be found below:

The popular, $1 “Multiplier” add-on feature is also going away, according to the release. Instead, tickets will come with a “built-in multiplier.” The “Just the Jackpot” feature that was available in some jurisdictions will also be retired under the new rules, the release said.

Other game changes, according to Mega Millions officials:

• 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 and 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.

from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/zBMykV4