What’s Driving the Massive Lottery Jackpots We See Today?

On October 23rd, 2018, at 11 p.m. Eastern Time, the Mega Millions drawing offered an estimated $1.6 billion, potentially the largest lottery payout ever. This surpassed the previous record of $1.586 billion Powerball prize, shared by winners in California, Florida, and Tennessee in January 2016.

When jackpots reach such astronomical amounts, Mega Millions tickets fly off the shelves in the 44 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands where they are available.

What’s causing lottery jackpots to reach such astonishingly high amounts today?

The shift began when officials started adjusting the rules to lower the odds of winning, allowing prizes to accumulate to unprecedented levels. The strategy is that when jackpots hit hundreds of millions or even billions, even skeptics and first-time players are lured into purchasing tickets.

In October 2015, Powerball revised its rules, expanding the pool of main numbers while shrinking the Powerball pool. This adjustment increased the odds of winning the jackpot from approximately one in 175 million to one in 292 million.

Later, in October 2017, Mega Millions implemented changes to make winning even harder. Previously, players chose five numbers from 1 to 75 and a Mega number from 1 to 15. The new rules required selecting five numbers from 1 to 70 and a Mega number from 1 to 25, raising the odds from about one in 259 million to one in 303 million.

On October 23, 2018, a single ticket holder in South Carolina matched the winning Mega Millions numbers, claiming the $1.537 billion jackpot. This prize was just shy of the 2016 U.S. lottery record of $1.586 billion.