Mega Millions to roll out redesigned lottery game

Lotto

A redesigned Mega Millions game is scheduled to debut Oct. 28 that will hike the ticket price from $1 to $2 but more than double starting jackpots.

According to a news release, the game was redesigned “to bring more value to its players with larger starting jackpots and faster rolls.”

Starting jackpots will increase from $15 million to $40 million, jackpots will grow faster overall, and there will be better odds to win $1 million prizes and higher secondary prizes, the release said.

In the redesigned game, players select five numbers from 1 to 70, and one Mega Ball number from 1 to 25. Players will have a 1 in 24 overall chance of winning a prize.

In addition there will be a new optional $3 wager — Just the Jackpot — that allows players to receive two entries for a chance to win the game’s jackpot only. Just the Jackpot tickets will not be eligible for any other prize levels.

The first drawing of the redesigned game will be Oct. 31.

Mega Millions president Debbie D. Alford said in the release that lottery changes are being made in response to customers’ demands.

“We have a demand for innovation to keep fresh, entertaining lottery games and to deliver the attention-grabbing jackpots,” said Alford, who also is president and chief executive of the Georgia Lottery Corp. “We’re excited to deliver the opportunity to create more millionaires and also provide more opportunities to raise additional revenues for the respected causes lotteries benefit.”

Mega Millions is one of the world’s biggest and most recognizable lottery games. Introduced as The Big Game in August 1996 with six member states, the game grew, becoming Mega Millions in May 2002. Mega Millions is played in 46 jurisdictions: 44 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The largest Mega Millions jackpot was a $656 million prize split by three winners in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland in 2012.

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