The chances of winning Powerball and Mega Millions are not your favour
The chances of hitting a jackpot with the Mega Millions or Powerball are around 192 million. Here’s what you’re more likely to land than a big buck.
A lucky Mega Millions player has been awarded the biggest lottery award awarded in Virginia.
The ticket coincided with all six Mega Millions figures on Friday, June 27th, winning an estimated $348 million jackpot, or $155.5 million cash options.
Virginia lottery officials have not yet announced where tickets were purchased or whether they were purchased online or at a retail store.
According to Virginia Lottery, tickets matching victory counts of 18-21-29-42-50 and Megaball number 2 are the biggest awards won in the Virginia lottery game. Winners will have 180 days to claim the award.
Virginia law, effective July 1, allows those who win the awards with more than $1 million can claim the award anonymously, so the public may never know who actually won. If given permission, the Virginia lottery may release the winner’s name and homeland and release a promotional photo.
MegaMillions win another winner after increasing jackpot and odds
According to Mega Millions, this was the fourth MegaMillions Jackpot in 2025, roughly coinciding with the $349 million jackpot winning in Illinois on March 25th. That victory came on the same day that the Mega Millions announced a megaoverhaul, raising a starting jackpot of $20 million to $50 million and tickets from $20 million.
According to Mega Millions, the changes included better odds (still long shots) of one in 290,472,336, compared to one in 302,575,350. The chances of winning the Mega Million Award increased by 1/23 compared to 1/24.
Shortly after the lottery changes came into effect, $112 million won tickets sold in Ohio were sold. Lucky Tickets, which were sold in Arizona, charged a $112 million jackpot on January 17th.
The jackpot will be reset to $50 million ($22.4 million cash option) for the next drawing on Tuesday, July 1st.
How do you play Mega Million?
To play Mega Million, you can purchase tickets at various locations, including convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores. In some states, tickets can also be purchased online.
Once you have your ticket, select six numbers. Five numbers will be white balls with numbers 1-70. Gold Megaball ranged from 1-24 in new games, previously ranging from 1-25.
You can also have your computer generate picks randomly. Seek for “quick play” or “easy picks.”
Where can I buy Mega Million tickets?
Mega Million tickets can be purchased directly at local gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Tickets may also be sold at some airport terminals.
You can also order tickets online Jack Pocket, the official digital lottery delivery company of the USA Today Networkthese US and territories include Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Maine, Maine, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington, DC, and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app lets you select lottery games and numbers, order, look at tickets, and collect all your winnings using your mobile phone or home computer.
Contributions: Fernando Cervantes and Greta Cross
Mike Snyder is a reporter for the trending team at USA Today. You can follow him in the thread, send BlueSky, X with X and send him an email Bliss & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider &msnider@usatoday.com
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