Latest news with #MEGAMILLIONS
Miami Herald
13 hours ago
- General
- Miami Herald
These five lottery players tried their luck — and won big. See their stories
National These five lottery players tried their luck — and won big. See their stories A postal worker in Maryland changed his usual ticket routine and landed a $50,000 Powerball prize. In California, a Mega Millions player bought a ticket at a local liquor store and won $285,828 but missed the grand jackpot. Read the stories below. A Mega Millions ticket sold in California matched five numbers to win $285,000, just missing the $560 million jackpot. Getty Images/iStockphoto NO. 1: MEGA MILLIONS PLAYER WINS BIG IN CALIFORNIA. WHERE WAS THE LUCKY TICKET SOLD? The winning ticket just missed the $560 million jackpot, lottery officials say. | Published June 5, 2024 | Read Full Story by Don Sweeney A US Postal worker landed a huge prize after buying a $3 ticket, Maryland officials said. Getty Images/iStockphoto NO. 2: POSTAL WORKER SWITCHES ROUTINE TO BUY LOTTERY TICKET. PRIZE LEAVES HIM IN 'DISBELIEF' The lucky winner usually used personal sets of numbers when playing lottery games, officials said. | Published June 11, 2024 | Read Full Story by Paloma Chavez Powerball tickets sold in Arizona and Tennessee matched five numbers to win big, just missing the $92 million jackpot. Getty Images/iStockphoto NO. 3: POWERBALL PLAYERS JUST MISS $92 MILLION JACKPOT — BUT STILL WIN BIG The winning tickets matched five numbers but not the Powerball, lottery officials say. | Published July 21, 2024 | Read Full Story by Don Sweeney Michigan man checks spam folder and finds out he won huge lottery prize. Getty Images/iStockphoto NO. 4: LOTTERY PLAYER CHECKED SPAM FOLDER AND FOUND OUT HE WON HUGE PRIZE IN MICHIGAN The man broke out into a 'happy dance' when he saw how much he won. | Published July 23, 2024 | Read Full Story by Jennifer Rodriguez His family had originally planned to go to the fair a day earlier, but the event was sold out, lottery officials said. Getty Images/iStockphoto NO. 5: MAN THINKS HE WON $100,000 ON LOTTERY SCRATCHER. 'THAT'S A COMMA,' HIS WIFE SAYS He won $1 million on the scratcher bought at a county fair in California, officials say. | Published November 26, 2024 | Read Full Story by Don Sweeney The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- General
- Miami Herald
10 lottery players win life-changing prizes across US. ‘Had to calm myself down'
National 10 lottery players win life-changing prizes across US. 'Had to calm myself down' A man couldn't believe his eyes when he checked his Lucky for Life ticket after waking up at 2:30 a.m. A Maryland grandfather's persistence finally paid off after decades of using the same "non-winning" numbers in Bonus Match 5. Meanwhile, a Georgia player narrowly missed a $133 million Powerball jackpot but still walked away with a $50,000 prize. Read the stories below. A Michigan man woke up at 2:30 a.m. and checked the winning lottery numbers to learn that he was a big winner. He thought he was dreaming. Photo by Michigan lottery NO. 1: LOTTERY WINNER THOUGHT HE WAS DREAMING AFTER CHECKING NUMBERS AT 2:30 A.M. IT WAS REAL 'It really was hard to know if I was dreaming or if I had really won big because it was the middle of the night,' he told Michigan officials. | Published May 7, 2024 | Read Full Story by Kate Linderman A Mega Millions ticket sold in California matched five numbers to win $943,692, just missing the $421 million jackpot. Vladimir Sukhachev Getty Images/iStockphoto NO. 2: MEGA MILLIONS PLAYER WINS NEARLY $1 MILLION IN CALIFORNIA. WHERE WAS LUCKY TICKET SOLD? The winning ticket matched five numbers but not the Mega Ball, lottery officials say. | Published May 22, 2024 | Read Full Story by Don Sweeney The winning ticket just sat chilling in a drawer for months. Photo courtesy of Michigan Lottery Connect news release NO. 3: LOTTERY TICKET SAT IN DRAWER FOR MONTHS BEFORE MAN REALIZED IT WAS WORTH MILLIONS The Michigan scratcher sat 'collecting dust' for months, lottery officials said. | Published May 23, 2024 | Read Full Story by TJ Macias A woman who paid $50 for a lottery ticket started screaming and running around the store when she won $1 million, NC officials say. Getty Images/iStockphoto NO. 4: GRANDMA OF 13 WAS 'HOLLERING AND RUNNING' IN STORE AFTER LIFE-CHANGING NC LOTTERY WIN The ticket cost $50. | Published May 29, 2024 | Read Full Story by Mark Price A Maryland man's faithful set of lottery numbers finally paid off. Getty Images/iStockphoto NO. 5: GRANDPA'S FAITHFUL LOTTERY NUMBERS FAILED HIM FOR DECADES — UNTIL NOW. 'ABOUT TIME' 'I jumped up for joy,' the Maryland man said. | Published June 10, 2024 | Read Full Story by Daniella Segura Donna Smith, pictured with her fiance Calvin Blackwood, hit the jackpot in North Carolina. N.C. Education Lottery NO. 6: LOTTERY PLAYER TRUSTS GUT AND WINS LIFE-CHANGING NC JACKPOT. 'HAD TO CALM MYSELF DOWN' The prize winner 'could barely contain her excitement.' | Published June 20, 2024 | Read Full Story by Simone Jasper Heeding her intuition, a Maryland woman took a 'rare trip' to a Baltimore gas station and bought some Powerball tickets, lottery officials said. Getty Images/iStockphoto NO. 7: LUCKY FEELING LEADS TO 'FATEFUL DAY' FOR MARYLAND LOTTERY PLAYER. 'A BLESSING' 'Life is a gamble, and it's good to take risks.' | Published July 22, 2024 | Read Full Story by Daniella Segura Someone in Georgia scored a big prize in the latest Powerball drawing. How much did they win? Jerry Habraken USA TODAY NETWORK NO. 8: POWERBALL PLAYER JUST MISSES $133 MILLION JACKPOT, BUT STILL WINS BIG PRIZE IN GEORGIA Where was the lucky ticket sold? | Published July 29, 2024 | Read Full Story by Tanasia Kenney A Maryland lottery player won big after listening to advice from a family member, lottery officials said. Getty Images/iStockphoto NO. 9: RELATIVE'S ADVICE LEADS LOTTERY PLAYER TO A HUGE WIN. 'IT WAS LIKE HOLDING DYNAMITE' The Maryland lottery player said she was considering a different game, but her relative had a game plan, according to lottery officials. | Published February 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Natalie Demaree A Wisconsin truck driver passing through Virginia purchased a pair of lottery tickets and won a top prize on the second ticket, lottery officials said. Getty Images/iStockphoto NO. 10: TRUCK DRIVER BUYS LOTTERY TICKET OVER 800 MILES FROM HOME — AND WINS 'BIG ONE' He bought a pair of scratch off tickets and won the top prize on the second one, lottery officials said. | Published April 8, 2025 | Read Full Story by Natalie Demaree The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Will new Mega Million odds make you a jackpot winner? Don't get your hopes up
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lottery players are going to have a shot at more billion-dollar jackpots and slightly better odds under new Mega Millions rules that go into effect with Tuesday's drawing. But the improvements come at a cost — literally: Players will have to shell out $5 per ticket, more than double the previous price. On the other hand, the jackpots are expected to grow much bigger — and at a faster rate — and officials believe sales will rise as people are stopped in their tracks by massive prizes. 'People really want big jackpots,' said Joshua Johnston, the Washington state lottery director who heads the Mega Millions game. 'We expect to see a sales lift on this.' HOW IS MEGA MILLIONS CHANGING? The biggest change is the ticket price hike from $2 to $5. Lottery officials expect that jump to increase revenue from the twice-weekly game, enabling them to lower the odds of winning the jackpot from 1 in 303 million to 1 in 290 million. The higher ticket price also means the jackpot can start at $50 million, rather than the previous $20 million, and the grand prize is expected to grow more quickly. Each time there isn't a big winner, the jackpot will jump to a larger mark. Officials expect it will more frequently top the $1 billion threshold that draws extra attention — and bigger sales. Under the new rules, prizes for tickets not matching all six numbers also will increase, with smaller winners now guaranteed at least $10. Each ticket also will include a randomly assigned multiplier that can increase the prize by up to 10 times, a previous add-on feature that cost an extra $1. The multiplier doesn't apply to a jackpot. WILL THIS MAKE WINNING A JACKPOT EASIER? Yes, but it's still incredibly unlikely: Odds of 1 in 290 million are still mind-bogglingly hard to beat. And that's true if you buy one ticket or 100. 'When we hear 1 in 290 million, we don't have a sense of what that means. We have a greater sense of the fact that there will be a winning number," said Tim Chartier, a mathematics and computer science professor at Davidson College. "And it's true that it's possible, but the issue is the extreme improbability of it.' How improbable? The chance of hitting a jackpot, even under the new rules, is akin to choosing one single second over a nine-year span, according to Chartier. He said he's never been willing to risk even a couple bucks on those odds. WHY IS THE GAME CHANGING? The new rules have two main goals: to address what the industry calls 'jackpot fatigue" and to differentiate Mega Millions from Powerball, the other lottery draw game played across the country. Jackpot fatigue is the phenomenon under which prizes must grow to enormous amounts before most players will take note and buy a few tickets. These days, a $300 million prize that once drew lines at mini-marts barely registers. With the new rules, officials expect those average winning jackpots to climb from about $450 million to $800 million, Johnston said. And they believe that even lottery fatigue is no match for the more frequent billion-dollar prize. 'When you get to a billion people are like, 'Whoa, that's a whole lot of money,'' Johnston said. Lottery officials said there is a clear correlation between bigger jackpots and higher sales but Sandie Yeaman, of Omaha, Nebraska, expressed puzzlement at the connection. 'I'd be satisfied with $1 million, and so would others," she said. "One person winning $50 million is ridiculous.' HOW RARE IS A $5 TICKET PRICE? Mega Millions will be the country's most expensive lottery draw game, where random numbers are selected to determine a winner. Still, that price is far less than scratch tickets offered by some states. In Texas, for example, some scratch tickets cost $100 each. Outside the U.S., the El Gordo Christmas lottery in Spain limits the number of tickets sold and charges 20 euros for a partial ticket and 200 euros for a full ticket. The higher Mega Millions price left Saeedith Williams of East Point, Georgia, unsure if he'll keep buying several tickets a week. 'Maybe I'll buy one ticket a week now that it's $5 a ticket,' he said. WHAT ABOUT POWERBALL? After the new rules are implemented, the two lottery games that once were remarkably similar now will have some key differences. The biggest contrast will be the cost, as Powerball will stick with its $2 tickets — $3 in Idaho and Montana where they require a special prize bundle. With that smaller ticket price will come smaller minimal prizes, starting at $4, or less than half the lowest Mega Millions prize. But Powerball players will still be able to pay an extra dollar for 'Power Play,' a random multiplier that, as in Mega Millions, can increase all but the grand prize. Powerball drawings will continue to be three times a week — Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights — while Mega Millions will hold drawings on Tuesday and Friday. The changes will bring the two games' jackpot odds a little closer, with Powerball jackpot odds of 1 in 292.2 million just a bit worse than the new Mega Millions odds. Remind me, what's the point of all this? For players, it's a chance to spend a little money on a dream of incredible riches while acknowledging the reality that it almost certainly won't happen. For the 45 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands where Mega Millions is played, the game raises money for a variety of services, such as education scholarships. Local lottery agencies run the game in each jurisdiction and decisions about how the profits are divvied up are written into state law. ___ AP writer Margery A. Beck contributed to this story from Omaha, Nebraska. Sign in to access your portfolio
Associated Press
07-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Will new Mega Million odds make you a jackpot winner? Don't get your hopes up
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lottery players are going to have a shot at more billion-dollar jackpots and slightly better odds under new Mega Millions rules that go into effect with Tuesday's drawing. But the improvements come at a cost — literally: Players will have to shell out $5 per ticket, more than double the previous price. On the other hand, the jackpots are expected to grow much bigger — and at a faster rate — and officials believe sales will rise as people are stopped in their tracks by massive prizes. 'People really want big jackpots,' said Joshua Johnston, the Washington state lottery director who heads the Mega Millions game. 'We expect to see a sales lift on this.' HOW IS MEGA MILLIONS CHANGING? The biggest change is the ticket price hike from $2 to $5. Lottery officials expect that jump to increase revenue from the twice-weekly game, enabling them to lower the odds of winning the jackpot from 1 in 303 million to 1 in 290 million. The higher ticket price also means the jackpot can start at $50 million, rather than the previous $20 million, and the grand prize is expected to grow more quickly. Each time there isn't a big winner, the jackpot will jump to a larger mark. Officials expect it will more frequently top the $1 billion threshold that draws extra attention — and bigger sales. Under the new rules, prizes for tickets not matching all six numbers also will increase, with smaller winners now guaranteed at least $10. Each ticket also will include a randomly assigned multiplier that can increase the prize by up to 10 times, a previous add-on feature that cost an extra $1. The multiplier doesn't apply to a jackpot. WILL THIS MAKE WINNING A JACKPOT EASIER? Yes, but it's still incredibly unlikely: Odds of 1 in 290 million are still mind-bogglingly hard to beat. And that's true if you buy one ticket or 100. 'When we hear 1 in 290 million, we don't have a sense of what that means. We have a greater sense of the fact that there will be a winning number,' said Tim Chartier, a mathematics and computer science professor at Davidson College. 'And it's true that it's possible, but the issue is the extreme improbability of it.' How improbable? The chance of hitting a jackpot, even under the new rules, is akin to choosing one single second over a nine-year span, according to Chartier. He said he's never been willing to risk even a couple bucks on those odds. WHY IS THE GAME CHANGING? The new rules have two main goals: to address what the industry calls 'jackpot fatigue' and to differentiate Mega Millions from Powerball, the other lottery draw game played across the country. Jackpot fatigue is the phenomenon under which prizes must grow to enormous amounts before most players will take note and buy a few tickets. These days, a $300 million prize that once drew lines at mini-marts barely registers. With the new rules, officials expect those average winning jackpots to climb from about $450 million to $800 million, Johnston said. And they believe that even lottery fatigue is no match for the more frequent billion-dollar prize. 'When you get to a billion people are like, 'Whoa, that's a whole lot of money,'' Johnston said. Lottery officials said there is a clear correlation between bigger jackpots and higher sales but Sandie Yeaman, of Omaha, Nebraska, expressed puzzlement at the connection. 'I'd be satisfied with $1 million, and so would others,' she said. 'One person winning $50 million is ridiculous.' HOW RARE IS A $5 TICKET PRICE? Mega Millions will be the country's most expensive lottery draw game, where random numbers are selected to determine a winner. Still, that price is far less than scratch tickets offered by some states. In Texas, for example, some scratch tickets cost $100 each. Outside the U.S., the El Gordo Christmas lottery in Spain limits the number of tickets sold and charges 20 euros for a partial ticket and 200 euros for a full ticket. The higher Mega Millions price left Saeedith Williams of East Point, Georgia, unsure if he'll keep buying several tickets a week. 'Maybe I'll buy one ticket a week now that it's $5 a ticket,' he said. WHAT ABOUT POWERBALL? After the new rules are implemented, the two lottery games that once were remarkably similar now will have some key differences. The biggest contrast will be the cost, as Powerball will stick with its $2 tickets — $3 in Idaho and Montana where they require a special prize bundle. With that smaller ticket price will come smaller minimal prizes, starting at $4, or less than half the lowest Mega Millions prize. But Powerball players will still be able to pay an extra dollar for 'Power Play,' a random multiplier that, as in Mega Millions, can increase all but the grand prize. Powerball drawings will continue to be three times a week — Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights — while Mega Millions will hold drawings on Tuesday and Friday. The changes will bring the two games' jackpot odds a little closer, with Powerball jackpot odds of 1 in 292.2 million just a bit worse than the new Mega Millions odds. Remind me, what's the point of all this? For players, it's a chance to spend a little money on a dream of incredible riches while acknowledging the reality that it almost certainly won't happen. For the 45 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands where Mega Millions is played, the game raises money for a variety of services, such as education scholarships. Local lottery agencies run the game in each jurisdiction and decisions about how the profits are divvied up are written into state law.
