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In America, many states pool ticket sales, forming one of the largest multi-state lottery games called Mega Millions. The participating states are California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
Every Friday and Tuesday night Mega Millions holds lottery draws. First, a lottery ticket will have to be purchased for $1, and players need to choose five numbers from between 1 and 56, and one Mega Ball number from between 1 and 46. If the player guesses all six winning lottery numbers correctly, they win the jackpot.
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When Mega Millions first started in 1996, it was called The Big Game, and in August of the same year, they sold their first tickets. The first six states to participate were Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Virginia. At first The Big Game held drawings every Friday night until in February 1998 Tuesday nights were added. New Jersey started selling tickets for the Big Game in May, 1999.
New York and Ohio joined in may, 2002, and then The Big Game changed its name to Mega Millions. The first Mega Millions lottery draw took place on May 17, 2002. The next states to join were Washington in September, 2002, Texas in 2003, and California in 2005, forming the twelve states that participate in the Mega Millions lottery draw.
Mega Millions also changed how the game is played. When the lottery, The Big Game, first started players chose five numbers from between 1 and 50 and one number from between 1 and 25, but when The Big Game changed to Mega Millions, players picked five numbers from between 1 and 52 and the Mega Ball number from between 1 and 52. Then on June 22, 2005, players picked five numbers from between 1 and 56 and the Mega Ball number from between 1 and 46. The game is still played that way today.
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Since May, 2002, Mega Millions jackpots start at $12 million, and if no one wins the jackpot by guessing all six winning lottery numbers, it is rolled over to next week's jackpot, creating a larger jackpot. Although a player can request the jackpot be paid in a lump sum, the Mega Millions jackpot is usually paid in annual installments for 26 years. Players in Georgia, New Jersey, New York, and Texas must decide how to be paid before the draw, and in Georgia and New Jersey the winners can change their minds after the draw.
Besides Mega Millions jackpot, there are nine other cash prizes players can win. The more numbers a player matches the higher the payout, and he has a 1 in 40 chance of winning.
Sometimes a prize goes unclaimed, and if it goes unclaimed for too long, Mega Millions distributes the money to participating states. Usually, it is then donated to education funds. It might be hard to believe that anyone would not claim their prize, but in 2007 a $31 million prize went unclaimed in New York.
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The largest jackpot in the world belongs to Mega Millions, which happened on March 6, 2007, when a player from Georgia and another from New Jersey, split $390 million.
But even the first Mega Million draw in 2002 was worth winning at $27 million, which a person in Chicago won.
In January, 2004, Elecia Battle stole a winning ticket for the December 30, 2003, draw. After the real owner of the ticket filed a law suit against her, Battle was fined and sentenced to community service.
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