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If you’re watching the Mega Millions drawing tonight, you may find that you matched only three numbers that were drawn. Does this mean you won something, even if you didn’t win the big jackpot? Yes, if you match three Mega Millions numbers during the drawing, this means that you will walk away with some money, but you won’t win the jackpot. Sadly, you won’t be walking away with much. But it will be enough to purchase a handful of tickets for the next jackpot. Here are more details.
If you match 2 white balls and 1 yellow ball, you’ll win $10, according to Mega Millions’ rules which you can read here.
If you match 3 white balls, you’ll win $10.
So whatever the combination, matching three numbers will earn you $10 in the jackpot tonight.
There are several other ways you can win tonight. If you match one yellow ball (which is the last number drawn), then you’ll win $2. But if you only match one white number, then you also won’t win anything.
If you match a yellow ball and a white ball during tonight’s drawing, then you will walk away with $4. But if you only match two white balls and don’t match the yellow ball, you won’t win anything. A lot of people match two of the white balls and get excited until they realize that they won’t be getting anything that way.
If you match 4 white only, you’ll win $500. If you match 3 white and 1 yellow, you’ll win $200.
If you match all five white numbers only, you’ll win $1 million (and more if you’re using a Mega plier option.) If you match 4 white and the yellow, you’ll win $10,000.
In order to win tonight’s jackpot, you’d need to match all five white balls and the yellow Mega ball.
The odds of winning Mega Millions are 1 in 302.6 million, which are actually less than the odds of winning the Powerball, which is 1 in 292.2 million. Mega Millions changed its rules in October 2017, making 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 1 out of 25.
When someone eventually does win the jackpot, it will take a while before we find out their identity (if ever.) Some states allow a few weeks to claim a prize and other states allow winners to take up to a year to claim them. And some states allow winners to stay anonymous.