
The Mega Millions lottery game is making changes in April that it said will benefit players with “improved” odds of winning prizes — even the jackpot.
Under a new prize structure starting on April 8, lottery players can win larger non-jackpot prizes, such as between $10 and $50 instead of just $2. However, ticket prices are also going up from $2 to $5.
“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 a statement. Johnston added that non-jackpot winners will take home between two- to 10-times more prize money.
For jackpot winning hopefuls, the odds of winning have improved to one in 290.5 million from one in 302.6 million due to the game losing one gold ball. With 24 balls instead of 25, the odds of winning any prize is also improving from one in 24 to one in 23.
Here are five things that are more likely to happen to a person than winning the Mega Millions jackpot.