Formal Approval For Mega Millions

Plans are in place for lottery players in Iowa to be able to play two big jackpot games starting early next year: Powerball® and Mega Millions®.

During its meeting this week at lottery headquarters in Des Moines, the Iowa Lottery Board approved plans for the sale of Mega Millions tickets in Iowa. The Board’s vote follows an agreement in principle reached among U.S. lottery directors on Oct. 7. That agreement calls for all U.S. lotteries to work towards cross-selling of the Powerball and Mega Millions games in 2010 and development and implementation of a national lotto game for all U.S. lotteries in late fall 2010. 

Powerball and Mega Millions both are lotto games with jackpots that have climbed into the hundreds of millions of dollars. But to date, the games have been sold in separate jurisdictions. Powerball is sold in 30 states including Iowa, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mega Millions is sold in 12 other states, including Illinois.

Mega Millions sales in Iowa are slated to begin on Jan. 31. The game’s first drawing that would include Iowa tickets would be Feb. 2.

The record Powerball jackpot is a $365 million prize that was won in the drawing on Feb. 18, 2006, by eight co-workers at a Nebraska meat-packing plant. The record Mega Millions prize is a $390 million jackpot that was split on March 6, 2007, by two tickets purchased in Georgia and New Jersey.

Mega Millions tickets cost $1 each. Players choose six numbers from two separate pools - five different numbers from 1 to 56, and another number called the Mega Ball from 1 to 46. You win the jackpot by matching all six winning numbers in a drawing. Jackpots start at a guaranteed $12 million and continue to grow until they’re won. In addition to the jackpot, other prizes in the game range from $2 to $250,000. The game’s drawings are at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Powerball jackpots start at a guaranteed $20 million and continue to grow until they’re won. Players choose five numbers from a pool of 59 and another number – the Powerball – from a pool of 39. Plays cost $1 and drawings are at 9:59 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. You win the jackpot by matching all six numbers selected in a drawing. In addition to the jackpot, the game offers eight other prizes ranging from $3 to $200,000.

Comments

[Mary Neubauer]

Mega Millions will have the Megaplier option in Iowa, just as Powerball has the Power Play option. That's why we're using the Megaplier logo for the new game, which we've featured in this blog entry.

Mary

[Mike]

Will the Mega Millions in Iowa have the Megaplier option?The Megaplier is similar to the Power Play.Right now only Texas has the Megaplier,but a couple of the states that are joining Mega Millions will be offering it.