The Mega Millions lottery game is one of the most beloved lotteries in the world. Along with Powerball and EuroMillions, it offers the highest jackpots which sometimes reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars. It's a dream for most citizen to win that much money, so it's no wonder that the game is so popular.
Being such a beloved game, many citizen want to know how to play it. Specifically, they want to know how many numbers they need to win the game's jackpot. Sure, seasoned players already know exactly how to play, but there are others who don't. Maybe they just moved to The United States. Or maybe the state that they live in just recently introduced the game.
If you're one of those citizen that are new to the game, the short respond to how many numbers you need to win it is six.
Now, the choice of Mega Millions numbers is divided into two separate categories. In the first category, you need to pick 5 numbers, out of a possible 56. If you're curious in how many numbers you need to win, you're probably also curious in the odds of hitting all the numbers. Well, the odds of matching all five of the numbers in the first type are 1-in-3,819,816.
Then there is the second category. In addition to the 5 main numbers drawn for Mega Millions, there's also a Mega Ball drawn. That means that players also have to pick a Mega Ball number, which can be whatever from 1 to 46. That means that you're odds of picking the literal, whole are 1-in-46. The Mega Ball can be the same as one of the first five numbers chosen or it can be a separate number.
Now, to in effect win the jackpot, you need to match all six of the numbers that you chose to the numbers that are drawn. That means all of the first five numbers, plus the Mega Number. The odds of matching all six numbers are 1-in-175,711,536. Those are gargantuan odds. Yes, it's hard to win the Mega Millions lottery, but that's why it can offer such high jackpots.
Also, you don't in effect have to pick your own numbers. You can just ask for a quick pick and the lottery terminal will print out a random set of numbers.
Now that you know how many numbers you need to win Mega Millions, good luck playing, you just might be the next lottery millionaire.