Mega Millions runs on a similar structure to Powerball but with its own specific numbers. Players pick five different numbers from 1 to 70, plus one Mega Ball number from 1 to 24, or use Easy Pick to have the numbers chosen randomly. Each play costs $5. * Matching all five main numbers plus the Mega Ball wins the jackpot. The odds of that exact combination are about 1 in 290.5 million — essentially the same long-shot territory as Powerball, even though the specific number pools are different. The overall odds of winning any prize at all are considerably better, at roughly 1 in 23. * Jackpots start at $50 million, higher than Powerball's $20 million starting point, and climb from there every drawing that passes without a winner. Non-jackpot prizes range from as little as $10 up to much larger amounts depending on how many numbers you match. * Every Mega Millions play automatically includes a Multiplier at no extra cost — a random value between 2x and 10x, assigned at the moment you buy your ticket, that multiplies whatever non-jackpot prize you win. Unlike Powerball's Power Play, you don't pay anything extra or choose to opt in; every ticket already has one. * Drawings happen twice a week. Jackpot winners choose between an annuity — one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments — or a lump-sum cash option equal to the actual cash sitting in the jackpot prize pool, which is always smaller than the advertised annuity total.