What are the most common Mega Millions numbers

WASHINGTON — With a $1.35 billion prize on the line Friday evening, it is undoubtedly vital to choose the proper numbers to your Mega Millions ticket. But are all numbers the identical? 

The quick reply is sure: every mixture of numbers has a 1 in 302 million probability of profitable you the jackpot. While these odds could also be astronomical, some numbers do appear “luckier” than others. 

Fun reality: If the $1.35 billion prize is gained Friday, it is going to be the seventh Mega Millions jackpot gained on Friday the thirteenth, in response to the lottery. 

The Wisconsin Lottery even posts these lucky numbers on its website, displaying gamers what the most generally drawn numbers have been since the game launched in 2002. 

While it will be simple to say you are extra prone to get the jackpot by selecting these numbers, it isn’t that straightforward. There’s no technique to the picks due to the randomness related to the profitable numbers. Even although some numbers have been drawn greater than others, that is to be anticipated contemplating the recreation has been round for greater than twenty years. 

The recreation has gone via some modifications over the years. But since Oct. 2017 its involved gamers deciding on 5 numbers from 1 to 70, and one Mega Ball quantity from 1 to 25.

Statistics professor Rong Chen mentioned in a Q&A article from Rutgers University that any mixture has the identical odds. Being chosen in the previous does not imply a mix is kind of prone to win: “Those numbers have the same chance of winning as any other number today.”

Chen mentioned mixtures that different gamers are much less prone to choose, like sturdy patterns or numbers that are too excessive to be a birthdate, may scale back your possibilities of having to share the jackpot. That would not make you any extra prone to truly win, although.

Mega Millions started in 2002, rebranding from “The Big Game,” and altering up the manner the recreation labored. Players had been required to match 5 numbers out of a pool of 52, with 52 choices accessible for the separate Mega Millions ball. 

Fun reality, there was a jackpot winner in the very first Mega Millions drawing. A $28 million ticket was bought in Illinois. 

According to lottonumbers.com, which tracks lottery statistics, the recreation has undergone quite a few modifications since then.

In 2005, it turned tougher to get all 5 numbers appropriate; the pool was raised from 52 to 56. To compensate, lottery designers lowered the pool for the Mega Millions ball to 46 choices. 

In 2013, the format was modified once more, with the principal pool increasing to 75 and the Mega Ball pool lowering to fifteen choices. 

Mega Millions reversed course in 2017, decreasing the principal ball pool to 70 whereas upping the Mega Ball pool to 25. This present iteration makes it tougher to win the jackpot, however simpler for gamers to win a prize. 

The prize choices for Mega Millions are somewhat sophisticated, and lots of depend on you selecting the Mega Ball accurately. Overall, there is a 1:24 probability of profitable a prize each time you buy a $2 ticket. Here are the official prize payouts: 

• 1 match – No prize 
• Mega Ball match – $2 (1 in 37 odds)
• 2 matches – no prize 
• 1 match + Mega Ball match – $4 (1 in 89 odds)
• 2 matches + Mega Ball match – $10 (1 in 693 odds)
• 3 matches – $10 (1 in 606 odds)
• 3 matches + Mega Ball match – $200 (1 in 14,547 odds)
• 4 matches – $500 (1 in 38,792 odds)
• 4 matches + Mega Ball match – $10,000 (1 in 931,001 odds)
• 5 matches – $1 million (1 in 12,607,306 odds)
• 5 matches + Mega Ball match – Jackpot! (1 in 302,575,350 odds)

1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California) 

2. $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)

3. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)

4. $1.35 billion (Estimated), Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023

5. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)

6. $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)

7. $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)

8. $758.7 million, Powerball, Aug. 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)

9. $731.1 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021 (one ticket, from Maryland)

10. $699.8 million, Powerball, Oct. 4, 2021 (one ticket, from California)