Montana Lottery reveals game modifications that could come as soon as 2025
UPDATE — Watch Lottery Post's exclusive video report
UPDATE 2 — New information from Montana Lottery
Includes video report
By Kate Northrop
Note: One state lottery indicated that these amendments to the game are in progress of undergoing final review, but we are attempting to confirm it with a second source. State lotteries may not yet be ready to officially announce the following changes, and it is unconfirmed whether these changes are proposed or definite. Considering the information was sourced from the Montana Lottery directly, however, Lottery Post felt it necessary to cover the announcement even if they are not formally confirmed directly by the Mega Millions Consortium.
In a Commission meeting this week, the Montana Lottery revealed proposed game changes coming to the Mega Millions multi-state game that include an increase in ticket price, improved odds, and a different way to play, with changes coming as soon as 2025.
Next year, Mega Millions might look a lot different. Lottery players may be seeing a huge overhaul to the multi-state game, which will impact the ticket price, the odds of winning, and what is included in a play.
If you weren't paying close attention, you might have missed a huge announcement about how Mega Millions is slated to change. On Tuesday, proposed game changes were quietly revealed to the public in a small Montana Lottery Commission meeting. There is no official press release or statement on the official Mega Millions website discussing these amendments, but the meeting attendees confirmed that the changes were indeed being passed on to the Montana Lottery by the Mega Millions Consortium for their review and eventual approval.
"The Mega Millions Consortium has determined that in Spring of 2025, they will be implementing these changes," Montana Lottery Marketing and Sales Director Anne Charpentier said in the meeting.
"Mega Millions is a national jackpot game that is managed by the Mega Millions Consortium," she continued. "This group makes all the decisions surrounding the Mega Millions game and any enhancements applied to the game design."
In March 2022, Lottery Post sat down with then-Mega Millions Lead Director Pat McDonald about the future of the game. During our interview, he hinted at murmurs circulating within the game group about raising the price of a ticket from $2 to $5 but dismissed it as an unlikely possibility.
Now, hiking ticket prices for the nationwide game may be a reality. This is "the direction they've decided to go," Charpentier said, with "they" possibly referring to the Mega Millions Consortium.
Charpentier said they anticipate a financial loss to some degree in raising the ticket cost. In the past, they have seen "upwards of 35% of players vacate the game" whenever there is an increase in the price point for a game, but it's "always made up by the other [percentage] that have stayed and played that extra dollar that has been asked of them to stay in it."
There may be a silver lining.
While dedicated lottery players may bemoan the hit their wallets are about to take from the increase, there are at least other positive changes to look forward to. One of those is increased odds at winning.
Currently, the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are about 1 in 302 million with five regular white ball numbers between 1 and 70 and one Mega Ball between 1 and 25 to choose from. The new odds at winning the jackpot will be 1 in 278.369 million. In comparison, the odds at winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.201 million. The odds at winning any prize in Mega Millions will slightly improve from 1 in 24 to 1 in 22.15.
The Lottery did not confirm exactly how the number matrix would change, but based on the new proposed odds, Lottery Post estimates that two gold Mega Balls will be removed from the number matrix to bring it down to 23 from 25, and that the regular white ball number matrix will remain at numbers 1 to 70.
The Lottery says that the average amount a jackpot will be hit at is projected to be about $694 million, a noticeable increase from the previous $387 million. These changes may result in more frequent billion-dollar jackpots.
There's also the Megaplier feature, which will now be incorporated into every ticket purchase.
"The multiplier of 1X up to 10X will be added to each play automatically, so Megaplier, which was an optional purchase, is now going to be automatically added to each play," Charpentier revealed. "It will be randomly selected for the player, so randomly, a multiplier will be added to each play."
Randomly assigning a multiplier number to each ticket would eliminate the need for a separate Megaplier drawing, which is what Lottery Post anticipates, although the Lottery did not directly confirm that.
In the meeting, the Lottery estimated that at least 45%, possibly 55%, of players who buy Mega Millions tickets voluntarily add the Megaplier feature to their plays for an extra dollar. Participation levels in Montana for the Megaplier option are higher than in other states, Charpentier stated.
Another positive change is something that players have long been asking for since the pandemic — a higher starting jackpot. Every time the top prize is won and the jackpot run ends, it resets to $20 million. With the coming changes, this starting jackpot will increase to $50 million every time a new cycle begins.
Lastly, the game is slated to go through a brand refresh, with a new logo and graphics. The play slip will also get an overhaul, since the Megaplier is no longer an optional feature for players to select and will instead be automatically included in a play.
The Montana Lottery Commission is set to review and approve the changes in September.
VIDEO: Watch Lottery Post's exclusive report
June 15 Update — New information from the Montana Lottery
As of June 15, the Montana Lottery has informed Lottery Post that some of the proposed changes presented in the Commission meeting have changed.
- The 1X multiplier will be removed entirely, leaving the 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, and 10X multiplier.
- The odds of winning the jackpot, previously presented as 1 in 278.369 million in the Commission meeting, will instead be 1 in 290 million. Lottery Post estimates that this means the removal of one Mega Ball number in the number matrix, not two, making the possible new Mega Ball number matrix 1 through 24.
- The new overall odds of winning any prize, previously presented in the Commission meeting as 1 in 22.15, will instead be 1 in 23.07.
Seems six of one and 1/2 dozen of the other.
It this comes to fruition, I'm slowing down my playing considerably---not worth it. As for the multiplier going up to 10X hoping that it will be there regardless of the jackpot. PB cuts theirs off after it gets to $150 million. It seems that it only gets to 10X maybe 2-3 times a year.
The Lucky for Life Jackpot Odds are 1:30,821,472.
The jackpot is not won every day.
I won't throw a party just because the odds are not 1: 278.369M.
I buy one ticket for each draw plus the multiplier for a total of $6 a week.
To keep my play constant I have to add $4 to my weekly budget.
The 1X multiplier is a scam, there will be more 1X balls that the other numbers.
I don't view it a win for me, it's more money out of my pocket.
Regardless of the reduced odds and the increased starting jackpot, you will spend more.
They have done their math, the odds are in their favor.
The lottery wins all the time - the house wins always.
Any Changes is Good Just bring me $5 Billion Dollar Jackpots 💕🎉🎊🦅
Head pounding, but thought the article said with $5 cost, the Megaplier is automatic. Not for California I'm sure!!
California doesn't need any more incentives 😁🎉
Every time they switch a game up and say the consumer doesn't more chances to win or more chances to win big. Actually, the lottery commission wants more chances to take more of your money.
let me say this if new york did that I wont play anymore 5 bucks for a mega nope
I have a fixed budget for lottery tickets, and I've adjusted my play pattern several times as the games have changed. With this change, there will no longer be room for MM in my budget.
Hmmmm $ 50 mil starting jackpots ..... What do they estimate the following jackpot to increase.
Multiplier 10 x .... Does that include 2nd prize/ 1st runner up?
I'll still play but .... won't but a ticket until it hits 200 mil ..... And won't but 2 tickets until it hits 400 mil etc etc. gotta be economical!
Lastly ... Would it hurt the consortium to reduce the annuity to 20 years instead of 29?
l have another suggestion that all players will love . Why force people to Choose Annuity vs Lump sum . This war has been going on for ever and most players go broke within three years. So why not offer 50/50 payments so fifty percent goes to lump sum and fifty percent goes to Annuity it's not like it will kill them . It will be a win win for everyone 😁🙏💕
worst case scenario they can offer this option for extra $1 lol 😝 l take it
Yes the megaplier is automatic with the $5.
It was also "automatic" with $3 and that is what I used to play. So now that's $5 and $10 for the two draws in a week as opposed to $6 for the two draws in a week.
Just to see how we will all be on the losing end, the first five balls will remain the same 1 to 70.
But with $5 you could only win 1M second prize even with the megaplier on the ticket because there is a 1X ball.
There is no longer a bare minimum of 2M with the megaplier.
Of course you can argue that it could land on the 10X.
If the 10X on PB is anything to go by, I guess it will land there once a year.
Resets to $50 Million ????
You can't even get the game back to $40 Million on a restart.....Remember that nice article you folks put out on 10/18/2017 ??
" 10/18/2017 Mega Millions is being redesigned to bring more value to its players with larger starting jackpots and faster rolls. Starting jackpots will more than double from $15 million to $40 million, and jackpots will grow faster overall. There will be better odds to win $1 million prizes and higher secondary prizes. The ticket price also will change, moving from $1 to $2."
Cant say I wont play but will say I wont play until the jackpot is over $2 Billion. Nobody is going to win and the odds are still terrible. For $5 the odds should have been around 180,000,000 to 1.
I have suggested in the past that they offer players choices on the payout.
Take some in cash and some in an annuity or all in cash or all in an annuity. With the player deciding on flat vs increasing annuity and from 11,16,21,26 or 31 year payouts. The current annuity structure is discriminatory as it is ageist. Why would someone over 50-55 want an increasing annuity to get a lot more money just before they die? Cash plus a flat annuity should be an option. For $5 the players should get to choose how it is payed out if they ever win.
Have a budget like a lot of you, so I will postpone buying until the jackpot reaches $1,000,000,000 minimum.
If you think about it, most people do something like this which is why the when the jackpot is at $20 million they sell $25 to $35 million in tickets but when it reaches $1 billion they sell $100 million to $700 million. Check: for figures
This post has been automatically changed by the Lottery Post computer system to remove inappropriate content and/or spam.
Check Lottoreport on the internet. Based in Texas - Didn't like my linking to it above for some reason.
Extra $3 per ticket should cut the odds in half, at least. Horrible idea.
That's the end of MM for me - and likely, PB as well since they are sure to follow suit in some way. Not a fan of having the Megaplier added into the price as it is already fair enough to attract players...especially when compared to PB and their 2x limit on second prize winners. Plus, by giving control of the Megaplier to a computer, you have a completely riggable system whereby the game never takes a bath on the Megaplier. While they're at it, they just need to let an RNG pick the first five numbers and people will run away in droves...which is just as well- lotteries are totally out of control. All the while preaching "responsible" gambling.
My thought is that the MSL doesn't even remotely want to be your financial planner, but without the annuity option, they can't fill the billboards up with zeros. What a scam- they know that 95 percent of the people will take the cash...and they're making plenty of it now with the high interest rates. In 2019, the cash values were running at 60-70%. It's 47% now. That's 130-230 million profit on a billion-dollar jackpot. Yeah, right...now is the time to jack the ticket price to $5.
I agree but you shouldn't have to pay the extra $1 for it
Bottom line...they know they will lose a percentage of players but also know some of those won't be able to stay away when jackpots skyrocket, and they know that there are hardcore players who will keep playing every draw regardless of the cost of a ticket.
MUSL might take a hit in players cutting back and/or quitting, but will make up for it as time goes on.
The odds are so stacked against the player of even getting remotely close to winning. This is just another money grab (greed) and I will not be a part of it. If this happens, I will no longer be a player of MegaMillions.
Like I stated on another thread, greed and stinginess.
Have one more drawing for MM Indiana tonight. Been real good cutting back by not playing...and honestly don't miss it. Crap like this just reinforces it.
No, no , no won't be spending 5 bucks for 2 less balls, will be happy to offer more support for Michigan Lottery games, classic 47 and Fantasy 5, maybe even some Keno.
I'm a 3 digit player, I can win that and be happy.
You better believe they've done the math and it favors NM for more profits and a bigger bonus for management.
That's an AWESOME idea. 🤔💡
Yes. The odds are about the same to get a major win.
Yepper
The odds barely changed. Goodbye MM. PB is soon to follow.
Yes and PB is sure to follow not only so they don't miss out, but they don't want the non hardcore folks to have options.
MM ticket increase means more winners in California. Nope!
* For a $5.00 ticket- the starting jackpot should be $100 mil imo. I bet there will be long lines going around the block.
* Akin to Shoeless Jackson saying " if you built it, he will come!"
I remember when the Florida Lotto went up to $2 a ticket and Lottery Post Members were complaining and talking about boycotting Florida Lotto. I responded, "It's only a ONE dollar increase. If the Florida Lotto went up to $5, then I can see the complaining and talking about boycotting the Florida Lotto. And now, Megamillions actually is thinking of raising Mega Millions form $2 to $5, WTF?
I can remember when the Mega Millions was only ONE dollar, and now they're thinking of raising it to FIVE dollars? No, just no. I can get a burger meal at a fast food restaurant for the same price of a $5 Mega Millions ticket. SMH. 
I will not be purchasing MegaMillions tickets at $5 each. That's insane.
UPDATE! You can now watch Lottery Post's exclusive video report on the subject — see the video inside the story above.
I agree this will the end of MM. The ball change is meaningless and adding a 1x is just a way to rip everyone off as that choice will appear a lot. I always use the multiplier as it gets a lot of my money back, but can't depend on that in the future with those changes. I'm surprised they aren't also talking about adding another day like Sunday night. If PB tries to match this, I will be done with them also.
If they raise the price to $5, I probably won't play unless the jackpot gets really high. That's just a little much.
I will not be playing Mega Millions, period.
Kate is such an outstanding speaker. She missed her calling IMHO.
Great informative video BGW!
They should have done something to increase the number of 2nd place winners. Maybe increase the number of bonus balls for the jp and lower the number range for 2nd place.
That's what I was expecting to read....oops...
Maybe they're trying to find the sweet spot that will attract well- funded ticket-buying consortiums (think Jerry and Marge Go Large.) With the right odds, the right payouts, and enough investment capital, a savvy investment group can buy a win. Maybe not the big one, but at least enough to turn a profit...
Anytime they make changes it usually makes the game less attractive to the player.
This is no exception.
I hardly ever play the jackpot games simply because of the almost impossible odds. The rare times I do play, I always get the mega plier or power play and get 2 or 3 tickets so it's $3 a ticket. Now that it's $5 a ticket I might play even less.
Even with the reduced odds they could sell one combination to every adult in the US and they would still have 23 million combinations left over.
Why don't you have a 3 day like poweball has , Tuesday,Friday Sunday for $2.00 tickets rather than $5.00 ticket.
people will like it
Do you think they are copying other lottery games in other countries? Lotto Max is $5 in Canada. The odds of winning the jackpot is 1 in 33,294,800. It's not taxed like in America. I remember Lottery Post did interview years ago about how Powerball might go international too. Which makes no sense to me why they would do that.
Ironically we still can't buy tickets online in every state like other countries can. They can remain anonymous. But they want to make it international? Europe has Euromillions and Eurojackpot. Americans can't participate in that. They will increase their ticket price too to follow Mega Millions too. I think more people will stop playing. What's the point of playing a high priced lottery game that is international, more anonymous winners where you never see who wins ? Who comes up with these ideas to make the game worse?
I live in a state that rarely wins the jackpot or second tier prizes. For $5 per play I will not play or play if jackpot is over $2 billion. I can't justify going from $16 per month to $40. Then, they choose to do this during a bad economy and inflation? I'm sorry it's just pure greed. They did the math and thinking how much they will make. I don't see this going how they plan.
I will not be playing the game until it reaches 2 Billion. That's my starting point. Same for Powerball if they follow this foolishness. See we control everything y'all, if we don't feed into the money grab idea and everyone do same as me than they will see ticket sales decline and go back to normal. It's all driven by what the players do. I remember telling someone years ago when they raised it to $2 that if this becomes successful by us purchasing tickets they will raise it to $5 in the next 3-5 years. Those folks thought I was crazy. Well where are they now. 🤷🏾♂️ Now about to say the same thing again and everyone please understand it will happen as long this madness stays successful they will change game again we probably will have a day where tickets will be $10 for one ticket but they say you will have more millionaires and probably be entered in some type of second chance drawing. Watch 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I told everyone this would happen but no one believe me 🤷🏾♂️
Maybe reading way too much into this so someone enlighten me.
I thought MUSL was in Iowa, so what does Montana have to do with this? Not like they're a big lottery playing state IMHO.
Yeah, stopped @ the lotto machine and didn't play. Felt very ambivalent about it. It's kind of like the slot machines I play, if you don't get a bonus or do anything comes up you feel defeated. Simple psychology which the lottery folks allege to understand but don't. People know the risks BUT they do like to be rewarded too.
After watching the Kate video I have reconsidered. It's the old triple whammy.
High ticket price combined with high odds and a bundled Megaplier make this version a no go for me.
If they would have just taken the mandatory megaplier money and increased the second prize instead of forcing the megaplier I probably would have considered playing. What is really making this a no go for me is having the megaplier forced on me if I buy a ticket.
I can't say I will never buy a ticket for this version of Mega but the odds of me buying a ticket for this version are longer than the odds of the jackpot.
The last decent version of Mega Millions was the Old 56/46 game that left us 11 years ago. It has never been the same since. That's when the slide started and now it looks like this coming version of the Mega is set to go the way of the Monopoly Millionaires Club game.
My prediction is that when this version of Mega fails they will unbundle the Megaplier and make the odds better.
Montana is just being very transparent about it that is all.
It's nothing more than that. They are the only state in the consortium that let players know what every other state is talking about...that's my take on it.
Edit-
BTW: Thanks to Todd and Kate for this story as it helps all the players more than you probably know.
So California would have to get their own version sans Megaplier, right??? That really sucks IMHO. Especially if they have to pay $5 like 'the rest of us'.
New information just came in, so we have updated the story above at the bottom with the latest facts from the Montana Lottery.
Huge thanks to the Montana Lottery for providing this new information, as well as the full presentation in their meeting!
LOTTERY SCAM. ,, they do not mix the balls up hardly , watch the drawings on YouTube,, they drop the balls in the bubble than TURN THEM IN A CIRCLE ,, NOT MIXING THEM UP,, ITS ALL A SCAM ,,
"Lastly ... Would it hurt the consortium to reduce the annuity to 20 years instead of 29? "
The annuity is "what can be bought with the cash value of the jackpot"..
If you cut down on the term, then the annuity / jackpot value will be less. If it is about a third less.. jackpot value is going to be a third or more less.....
So, by reducing the annuity period, you significantly reduce the value of the jackpot that you can advertise... (but the cash value remains the same)
It becomes a matter of "why do that?"
now they will advertise the jackpot as the 129 year annuity value.
So if it goes to $5 a ticket I'm done it's impossible to win anyway
and on that note .........
Only in America ,greed
Per the new odds update. Change that to 35 million combinations left over.
I'm gonna make myself a liverwurst sandwich on rye with arugula Dijon mustard tomato and onion with three gherkin pickles a and sweet potato chips on the side. And drink a birch beer or moxie or sasparilla to wash it all down.
Then I'm gonna take out a five dollar bill and deposit it in the bank. Bye bye MM ....... Until you reach 200 - 400 mil.
I have to read the article. Is this proposal in all states this game is played?
stock holders run this country too. I know what you mean.
Proud member of that alliance!
Had I known about FIRE some 20 or so years ago all that money wasted on lottery would've really raised my bottom line substantially.
Stock holder here too. I was strategizing for retirement while still in college. From a young age, aggressively investing the max allowed in a 401k S&P Index fund really paid off. But this is easy to do if one has a job and most employers offer this 401k option.
I only started playing the lottery long after I was on my way to be financially set and never looked at the lottery as a retirement option. But most people want to take the easy way out and buy everything in sight.
Uuhh, HELLOOO..!!
Naah,
where have WE heard THIZ promise/Lie before?...
Ole Stat$ haz been preachin bout their corruption for YEARZ..!!
But WE can collectively send em a LOUD message by refraining buyin ANY MM ticketz for the next Month...that'll punish'em for insulting OUR memory...GTFOH..!!!
I'd bet that CA would just omit the multiplier and the amount you'd get for a partial match would just be whatever amount is allocated to that prize tier divided by the number of winners, aka pari-mutuel, same as it is now. Since all states pay out their lower tier prizes from in-state funds, how one state allocates lower tier prize money with or without multipliers wouldn't affect any other state. All states have to contribute X% of MM sales to the MM jackpot pool. I think it's around 65% currently. I wonder if they're going to change that as well.
If they raise it to $5 then they need to make the odds of winning 1 in 121,030,140.
Actually, now that the multiplier will be a part of every lottery ticket purchase, it is mathematically possible for California to do it.
To do so, they would allocate a certain percentage of sales to each prize level, just like they do today. But to determine what each winning ticket would be worth, they would divide the prize pool by the total number of multiplied prizes available instead of the total number of winning tickets.
So imagine there were only two winners of a particular prize level. (When figuring these things out it always helps to look at it with small numbers.) The total prize pool that those two winning tickets will share is $15. Player A has a multiplier of 2 on their ticket, and Player B has a multiplier of 3 on their ticket. So that's a total multiplier count of 5.
Take the total prize pool of $15, and divide it by the total multiplier count of 5, making each multiplier worth $3. So Player A would win $6 ($3 x the multiplier of 2), and Player B would win $9 ($3 x the multiplier of 3).
That would work within California's pari-mutuel requirements, while still allowing a multiplier feature.
That would definitely work and not violate any agreement with tribes.
Complete garbage. Maryland lottery switched over to all Rng games. And now this garbage 5 dollars a ticket. No thanks. I've saved so much by not playing md lottery games. So next will be MM when the price goes up. Then I'm sure powerball will file suit. And I'll stop playing that to. I've played the same number for 20 years. Just a way to get a little entertainment and waste 15 dollars a week . This is pure greed. And they even lowered the cash option. And take more of a percentage. And where's that percentage that they steal in the cash option go?
With you 100%. like others will only play if and when it gets over a billion dollars.
Currently and slowly burning through my on line account. Bought one series of Cashball 225 and KY 5 both for 14 draws=$28.00 They both are sucky RNG just like your MD games are. Don't know about Maryland, but here they blamed the pandemic. To me it is all about corporate greed.
$5.00 just to see "Sorry, not a winner." I think not! I rather invest my money in the pick 3 games.
Is your state RNG on Pick 3/4? That takes the wind out of the sails.
Sad that the people who could use the win more than others will be priced out of playing. Should be easier to win the smaller prizes that would allow people to use winnings to play for the big one, which is more money than most reasonable people could spend in a lifetime.
First win the thing and then create your own annuity with a reputable company for any amount you want to put into it if that is your desire. Buy a lot of annuities and CD's with different companies with it with different maturation dates is the way to go. When one matures either roll it back over or redeem it if you have blown too much cash.
I'll be done when they switch. I buy 15 dollars a week for pb and mm. I swore off powerball after that stunt where they supposedly had a problem and couldn't draw the numbers that night. But on the "live" draw supposedly during the day. The lady said have a good night. But eventually i started playing again. Which is my dumbass faught. But ive been playing the same numbers for 20 years. So its a little hard to walk away at this point. With rng games. Marylands bull excuse was. There switching to rng because its cheaper. The state had over a billion dollars in revenue the year prior . But according to them the air time was to expensive. These games have already been proven they can be rigged. A guy was already caught. Edward Tippton. And the only reason he was caught was because he got greedy. His program he put in the machine would destroy itself so no one would ever figure it out. But at the end of the day. My option is there doing this in mm and pb for higher jackpots. And the cash option will be lower. So they can steal a higher percentage back through the "cash penalty " option. But back to maryland lottery. After they switched to rng. Theres alot less winners on there website since they switched. They post. This weeks winners. One week a couple Keno tickets will be winners. Then next week no keno but racetrack will have winners. Then the week after the next game will have winners. It looks to me as a pattern each week. I advise people to stop playing. But who am I to tell anyone what to do. But if I was you. I would check your states lottery site and if they post winning tickets. Look to see if there's a pattern. Like on week this game pays and the other doesn't. Then next week ect ect ect. You will be amazed at the patterns you can find. And how the randomness doesn't seem so random anymore. And if they post the stores that sold the winners. Google the addresses and the distances from the stores. Sorry for rambling on. But I needed to get some things off my chest.
This post has been automatically changed by the Lottery Post computer system to remove inappropriate content and/or spam.
state lottery, until you might know the sequence pattern stick with the state lotteries. lesser problem
It is silly to sneer at your local states lotto because it is only or usually between 1-5 million with half the matrix. Oh, I have a large family they say so I have to play the big ones. Good luck with that doling out x amount of dollars to a bunch of sappy greedy relatives. There will never be enough for you to give them. They will always want to know how much you have left.
I am a fan of cash for life with the much better odds. No one ever seems to win my state game Bank a million.
That game is for younger players and i believe the prize is capped at 20 years if you die before 20 years. The matrix is still too large to have a snowballs chance of hitting it. Prefer others. I play multiple tickets in our cash 5 game. Only 5 out 35 gets you 100k for a 1.00 play. 325,000-1 chance but it is hittable.
The cash payment for 2nd place is $1 million. I would be happy with that amount even after taxes. I have got 3 numbers plus the bonus number before. $100 Repeat pairs pop up a lot and I pick my own numbers.
Not following how this game is for younger players since there are cash options. First place is $7 million.
7 million for a 2.00 1-48 matrix plus 1-18 Lucky Ball before taxes no less is not what I consider a good value lottery play for anyone older than 50. The allure is getting the 364k a year forever which works out if you are 25 and live to 80 netting yourself 20 million before taxes of course.
The bonus balls are 1-4. You are thinking of a different game. I am referring to cash for life, not lucky for life. Different games.
True enough but it is 1-60 and 1-4 which is a slightly better chance but the prizes are similar. If I were 25 I would play it. 2nd place prize has appeal.
May have mentioned that when the KY lottery came to town one of the employees 'heard' that L4L and C4L might combine to make one. I like them just as they are, though we only have Lucky 4 Life here.
Speaking of L4L an on line player just won $25K/year life. They should post if they took cash option or not.
Why would anyone win second prize? I'm glad we don't have that game here because I would buy 2 tickets per week with all four Cash balls. I can only imagine how people feel when they win second prize and realize for $6 more dollars they could have won the big prize.