LOTTERY
Is Powerball or Mega Millions better? Prizes & odds
Two lotteries, two sets of odds, and two life-changing jackpot payouts. But if you have to choose between playing Mega Millio or Powerball, which is better?
Are you curious about the main distinctions between Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries? Let me help you out!
The Mega Millions draw takes place on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 pm ET.
On the other hand, Powerball drawings are conducted every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 pm ET.
Which odds are better: Powerball or Mega Millions?
Did you know that the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338? That means you are more likely to win at a slot machine than winning the grand prize. Sounds unlikely, right? However, the Mega Millions lottery has even slimmer odds, with a chance of 1 in 302,575,350. You would need to have some serious four-leaf clover action going on to beat those odds.at those odds.
Which prize jackpot is higher: Powerball or Mega Millions?
Well, this varies from week to week. Currently, the Mega Millions jackpot being offered on Friday, 22 March, is worth $977 million, while the Powerball on Saturday, 23 March, is up to $750 million.
How to play Powerball
When you play Powerball you need to choose six numbers from two separate pools for the drawing. Players choose five numbers between 1 and 69 for the white balls and one number for a red ball, or Powerball, from 1 to 26.
There are a total of nine ways to win a prize in Powerball, ranging from $4, recovering your initial $2 buy-in plus $2, to the jackpot. Players can increase their prize amounts by spending an extra $1 for the “PowerPlay” option to win two, three, four or even five times as much. However the PowerPlay only applies to non-jackpot prizes below $1 million. Any PowerPlay number doubles the $1 million prize.
Check out our full guide for more on what all of the prizes are for Powerball, there are nine!
How to play Mega Millions
The Mega Millions lottery is one of the biggest multi-jurisdictional lotteries in the United States and is currently available to residents of 45 states.
When you play Mega Millions you need to choose six numbers from two separate pools for the drawing. Players choose five numbers between 1 and 70 for the white balls and one number for a gold ball from 1 to 25.
There are a total of nine ways to win a prize in Mega Millions, ranging from recovering your initial $2 buy-in to the jackpot. Players can increase their prize amounts by spending an extra $1 for the Megaplier option to win two, three, four or even five times as much. However the Megaplier only applies to non-jackpot prizes.
Check out our full guide for more on what all of the prizes are for Mega Millions, there are nine!