Philadelphia

Mega Millions Lottery: How to Play and Be a Winner

What Is the Mega Millions Lottery?

Mega Millions, like Powerball, is a multi-state lottery in the United States. Tickets for the Mega Millions Lottery can be purchased in all but seven states, as well as Washington, DC and the Virgin Islands.

More Info: Can Non-US Residents Play to Win the Mega Millions Lottery?

Mega Millions began in August of 1996 under the name, "The Big Game." Only six states participated at first, but the Play online lottery grew in popularity over time, and nearly every US jurisdiction participates today.

The name has changed twice, to "The Big Game Mega Millions" in 2002 and to "Mega Millions," as it's known today, in 2005.

In October of 2013, the structure of the lottery changed to make it more likely to win and to have bigger, more exciting jackpots.

Each Mega Millions Jackpot starts at $15 million and increases by $5 million for every drawing that does not produce a jackpot winner.

Mega Millions holds the world record for the biggest lottery jackpot, a $656 million prize that was awarded on March 30, 2012.

How Do You Play Mega Millions?

To play Mega Millions, you pick five numbers between 1 and 75 and one additional number between 1 and 15. The additional number is known as the "Mega Ball." The first five numbers do not have to be in any particular order.

A basic Mega Millions ticket costs $1. Most states also offer a "Megaplier" option, where you pay $1 per ticket to multiply any prize you win (other than the jackpot) by two, three, four, or five.

The value of the Megaplier is drawn at random at the same time that the winning numbers are generated.

You have the option to choose your lottery numbers, or to do a "quick pick" to let the computer randomly generate the numbers you will play.

More Info: Want to boost your odds of becoming a Play lottery online winner? Read Lottery-Winning Tips that Really Work.

How Do You Win the Mega Millions Lottery?

Mega Millions numbers are drawn from two drums, one containing 75 balls and one containing 15 balls. The first five numbers are drawn from the first drum, and the Mega Ball is drawn from the second drum. A seventh number is then drawn, to determine the level of the Megaplier, from 2 through 5.

If your five numbers match the five drawn from the first drum in any order, and your Mega Ball matches the number drawn from the second drum, you've won the jackpot. You may also win a prize for matching a lesser number of balls, as outlined below:

Mega Millions Payouts:

5 numbers plus the Mega Ball: The rolling jackpot.
5 numbers without the Mega Ball: $1,000,000 (multiplied by the Megaplier value, if you purchased that option).
4 numbers plus the Mega Ball: $5,000 (multiplied by the Megaplier value, if you purchased that option).
4 numbers without the Mega Ball: $500 (multiplied by the Megaplier value, if you purchased that option).
3 numbers plus the Mega Ball: $50 (multiplied by the Megaplier value, if you purchased that option).
3 numbers without the Mega Ball: $5 (multiplied by the Megaplier value, if you purchased that option).
2 numbers plus the Mega Ball: $5 (multiplied by the Megaplier value, if you purchased that option).

1 number plus the Mega Ball: $2 (multiplied by the Megaplier value, if you purchased that option).
Only the Mega Ball: $1 (multiplied by the Megaplier value, if you purchased that option).

Odds of Winning the Mega Millions Lottery:

5 numbers plus the Mega Ball (Jackpot): Odds of 1 in 258,890,850.
5 numbers without the Mega Ball: Odds of 1 in 18,492,204.
4 numbers plus the Mega Ball: Odds of 1 in 739,688.
4 numbers without the Mega Ball: Odds of 1 in 52,835.
3 numbers plus the Mega Ball: Odds of 1 in 10,720.
3 numbers without the Mega Ball: Odds of 1 in 766.
2 numbers plus the Mega Ball: Odds of 1 in 473.
1 number plus the Mega Ball: Odds of 1 in 56.
Only the Mega Ball: Odds of 1 in 21.
Overall odds of winning any prize: 1 in 14.7.

These odds are from March 19, 2014. To see whether the odds have changed since then, visit the Mega Millions website.

How Can You Find Out if You Won the Mega Millions Jackpot?

Mega Millions winners are drawn on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 pm. You can buy tickets up to 15 minutes before that time. Winning numbers are announced on television, in newspapers, and in the stores where you can buy tickets, or simply visit the Mega Millions website to view the latest winning numbers at any time.

Many of the state lottery websites also have handy smartphone apps or RSS feeds that can keep you abreast of the winning numbers.

More Info: If you're interested in state-specific lottery results see this article: Winning Lottery Numbers by State.

Do You Have to Go Public If You're a Mega Millions Winner?

In all but five states, you have to reveal your identity publicly if you are a Mega Millions winner. The states that allow you to collect your winnings anonymously are Maryland, Ohio, Kansas, Delaware, and North Dakota.

If You Win the Mega Millions Jackpot, How Will You Get Your Prize?

If you win the jackpot, you'll be able to choose from two payout options: lump sum payout or an annuity. The annuity will be paid out over 29 years, receiving 5% more each year than the year before. If the winner passes away before the annuity has been paid out, his or her heirs will continue to receive the payments.

If the winner takes the lump-sum payout, he or she will receive the entire jackpot at once.

Which States Do Not Participate in the Mega Millions Lottery?

The Mega Millions Lottery is not currently offered in Alabama, Mississippi, Utah, Wyoming, or Nevada..

The heroin sold here is among the purest, cheapest and deadliest in the United States . Run through the veins of the place, turning public parks, churches, abandoned houses and corners where to inject.

Prior to the train tracks, the city cleared McPherson Square, a small park on Kensington Avenue where the local library, which had become a haven for addicts, was found.

In May, national media reported that librarians were being trained to revive people with overdoses in the park informally renamed "Syringe Park.".

The supplements further claim to eliminate cravings for certain foods (including sweets and carbohydrates), control appetite, ease eating due to stress, burn calories efficiently, and therefore result in weight loss in Philadelphia. While cortisol levels can be a factor, these “control” claims are not supported by documented scientific research.

"In the '70s it was a beautiful park," says Joe Grone, a 53-year-old man who moved to one of the corners of McPherson Square more than 40 years ago.

Last year he pricked himself with a used needle as he crossed the park. It happened to her 5-year-old granddaughter as she sat on the steps of the front door. "This place should be for kids, not for syringes," he says.

Today, in the middle of the square there is a mobile police unit and the uniformed people walk the place by bicycle. The children run and the afternoons are happy in the Syringa square.

But social workers wonder where the expelled consumers would go .

Shortly after the plaza was cleared, there were reports that an abandoned church on Westmoreland Street had become its new refuge.

When the police went there, he found a young couple of addicts. They had improvised a home, keeping their belongings inside the organ tubes. While awaiting detainees, they debated which abandoned house was safer.

"This is a conversation that will continue to occur in this neighborhood," says Kate Perch, coordinator of the Punto de Prevención charity, which has a safe syringe exchange program.

"They vacated McPherson, they vacated (church in) Westmoreland and now the rails are about to be unoccupied . What happens to these people when that site is no longer available? Where will they go? "

W8MD Medical Weight Loss Program is a medical weight loss in Philadelphia and sleep wellness program for people who are serious about losing weight and gaining control of their health.

The concern of people like Perch is that the most vulnerable consumers end up in some of the hundreds of abandoned houses in the city, where social workers can not go because it is too dangerous and where people are going to suffer overdose without anyone seeing them.

For the second consecutive year, Philadelphia is projecting a 30% increase in annual overdoses, from 900 to 1,200, four times the number of murders.

Fentanyl, a tranquilizer that is 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin and is causing deaths throughout the United States, has infected the supply of this drug that enters Philadelphia from the ports.

"The drug on the way back now is fentanyl, it's an elephant tranquilizer, it's rat poison, stuff like that," says James Russell, a 30-year-old heroin-consuming 15-year-old local who prepared a shaky cup of instant coffee while waiting at the Point of Prevention.

"You hear someone injected a certain drug and ended up with an overdose, and seven out of 10 people are going to rush to get that drug. It's crazy. "

Jose Ojeda flew to Philadelphia full of hope. He arrived as an addict, seeking treatment in a first class center located in the heart of the city. At least that's what they had told him in Puerto Rico.

But as has happened to hundreds of other people, Ojeda landed in one of the many rehabilitation houses without official permission, where addicts are used for the economic benefit of the centerand, in many cases, end up on the street.

"I'm looking for help, but I find it impossible because I do not have papers," says Ojeda, sitting on empty ground next to the railroad tracks. Once, while he was fainting, his wallet was stolen where he had his ID.