The US Mega Millions jackpot has reached a whopping $1.6 billion, and the winnings are not restricted to Americans.
Canadians and other foreigners who visit the United States are allowed to purchase tickets. Winners do not have to be U.S. residents. “Visitors to the United States are always welcome to purchase tickets for our game from an American lottery retailer while they are visiting this country; you do not need to be a resident to win,” according to Mega Millions.
Tickets are sold in 44 states plus the District of Columbia and the U. S. Virgin Islands.
If you’re unable to travel to the United States, you can purchase tickets via an online third-party seller such as TheLotter.com. The website sells tickets to more than 45 lotteries all over the world. And the good news is that the company does not take any commission from its winners, reports Daily Hive.
Mega Millions tickets cost $2.00 per play. The next Mega Millions drawing will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 11 pm ET.
Lottery jackpots are getting increasingly bigger, and one of the reasons the Mega Millions keeps growing is because of a 2017 rule change. According to The Washington Post, massive payouts are occurring less frequently, paving the way for a handful of jackpots to grow exponentially.
The Mega Millions lottery launched in 1996, and since the rule change last year it has awarded three of its largest-ever payments. Jackpots tend to increase at a huge rate once it hits a particular threshold. Lottery officials note that the growth is driven by casual players.
Gordon Medenica, Maryland’s lottery and gaming director, told The Washington Post that once a jackpot rises to between $200 million and $400 million, infrequent players start buying tickets. Essentially, once the jackpot starts getting big, consumers buy a lot more tickets, which drives the jackpot even higher. When no winner is selected, the jackpot is rolled over into the next lottery and grows even more.
While people are drawn to the massive jackpot, it’s highly unlikely you will win. After the formula was changed, the odds of winning the jackpot became 1 in 302,575,350. You are more likely to be killed by a vending machine (1 in 112 million), become President of the United States (1 in 32.6 million), become an astronaut (1 in 12.1 million), or have conjoined twins (1 in 200,000) than win the Mega Millions jackpot.
