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The Mega Millions jackpot is estimated to be $340 million for tonight, and if no one wins then it will grow even more. Although the numbers are drawn completely at random, some people still like to know the history of the winning numbers so they can base the numbers they choose on what’s won before. There’s no statistical reason to believe this will help you win, but sometimes this can be a fun strategy to use. Your odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million, even less than Powerball.
To see a complete list of the numbers that have won in the past, there are a number of places you can go. USA Mega has a list here based on 42 drawings since October 31, 2017. They’re making the cutoff on this date because Mega Millions changed its rules and number matrix on October 31. In October, Mega Millions made the odds of winning the big jackpot lower (they used to be 1 in 258.9 million.) On October 28, 2017, Mega Millions increased the cost of buying a ticket from $1 to $2. They increased the starting jackpot to $40 million, and changed the play structure. Instead of picking five numbers out of 75 and 1 number out of 15, players now pick five numbers out of 70 and and 1 out of 25. You can also see statistics at LotteryExtreme.com and LottoNumbers.
Here’s a quick look at some of the numbers that are drawn the most frequently. Based on 42 drawings since October 31, 2017, these are the most frequently drawn numbers out of the first five white balls:
- 17 (drawn 8 times)
- 42 (drawn 8 times)
- 1 (drawn 7 times)
- 28 (drawn 7 times)
- 58 (drawn 7 times)
- 10 (drawn 6 times)
- 14 (drawn 6 times)
- 23 (drawn 6 times)
- 38 (drawn 6 times)
The numbers that haven’t been drawn at all in that time period are 9, 32, 45, 56, and 63.
Based on 42 drawings since October 31, 2017, these are the most frequently drawn numbers out of the yellow Mega Balls:
- 22 (drawn 5 times)
- 24 (drawn 4 times)
- 9 (drawn 3 times)
- 23 (drawn 3 times)
The yellow ball numbers that haven’t been drawn at all yet, as of the time of publication, are: 6, 13, 20, and 21.
If you really want to see all the statistics since Mega Millions began in 1996, regardless of the rule change in October 2017, LotteryExtreme.com is a good place to go. According to them, the most commonly drawn white ball numbers since the lottery began are 17 (215 times), 31 (212 times), 39 (208 times), 4 (208 times), 2 (208 times), 46 (207 times), 20 (206 times), and 29 (205 times.)
Meanwhile, in the last 250 draws, the most common three numbers are: 38/51/64 (three times), 7/46/66 (3 times), and 14/25/48 (3 times.)
The most commonly drawn quadruplet in Mega Millions is 2 – 44 – 46 – 51, drawn three times.
LottoNumbers.com has a lot of other interesting statistics, if you feel like digging into them. They list the most common quadruplets, triplets, and pairs; the bell curve statistics; and the odds versus evens. The site also has a number generator, and includes statistics for many other lotteries too, including Mega Millions, California SuperLotto, Georgia Fantasy Five, Florida Lotto, Lotto Texas, Illinois Lotto, Indiana Hoosier Lotto, Lotto America, New Jersey Pick Six, New York Lotto, Ohio Classic Lotto, and more. It even includes statistics for European Lottos, like El Gordo, EuroJackpot, German Lotto, Irish Lotto, SuperEnalotto, UK 49s, UK Health Lottery, and more.