Did you miss out on the $800 million Mega Millions jackpot Tuesday night? Not surprising. The odds of winning were one in three hundred and two million, five hundred and seventy-five thousand, three hundred and fifty.
The odds of winning the $134 million Powerball jackpot Wednesday night are a little better, just 1 in 292,201,338.
To put that in the proper perspective, in Sept. 2022 there were 290.8 million vehicles registered to drivers in the United States, according to job site Zippia .
Winning one of those lottery games would be like if someone hid a sack of money in the glove compartment of one random car, truck, SUV, or van, driving or parked or abandoned somewhere across all 50 states (including Alaska and Hawaii), and you somehow managed to guess which one it was in. Except the actual odds aren't quite that good.
The odds of winning a Florida Lotto jackpot are considerably better — 1 in 22,957,480 — but the jackpots tend to range from $1-40 million or so.
How about $1 million instead?
But what if your needs are modest? Could you get by on just a million? Then your odds get better. You've got a 1 in 12,607,306 to win a million in Mega Millions and a 1 in 11,688,054 chance to win $1 million in Powerball.
Someone in Florida did just that Tuesday night, winning a million with a Mega Millions ticket they bought at Big Boss Stores at 1739 US Highway 331 South, Defuniak Springs. Another Floridian won a million in Mega Millions that way just over a week ago. But the odds are still astronomical.
There's a (somewhat) easier way.
Scratch-off cards have better odds
Try scratch-off games . The one with million-dollar payouts will cost you more than your Mega Millions ticket, but they could be worth it.
There are currently 32 scratch-off games from the Florida Lottery with jackpots of $1 million or more, and all of them have better odds — sometimes significantly better odds — than you have to win the same amount in Mega Millions, Powerball or the Florida Lottery.
(Please note that the odds are still strongly against you winning anything, ever. Always remember that, and never spend money on lottery tickets you can't afford to lose).
Here are the scratch-offs with the best odds of winning a million bucks.
Playing the odds: How can you increase your chances of winning Mega Millions, Powerball or Florida Lotto?
Gold Rush Limited may have the best odds of any Florida Lottery scratch-off game to at least get your money back. Overall odds of winning something are just 1 in 2.65, which is pretty low as these things go. Most scratch-off games have overall odds of around 1 in 4 or higher.
The odds of winning a million aren't quite that good, 1 in 756,000, but so far 89 people have done it.
- Top prize: $5 million
- Ticket Price: $20
- Odds of winning $5 million: 1-in-2,362,500
- Odds of winning $1 million: 1 in 756,000
- Odds of winning $20: 1-in-4
- How to play: Match any of your numbers to any winning number, win prize shown for that number. Get a 5X or 10X symbol, win five or 10 times the prize shown for that symbol. Get a gold bar symbol and win $500 instantly! Match a winning number to any bonus spot, win the amount for that spot.
There are still 11 $1 million jackpots remaining.
This one doesn't the best odds out of all of them, but it's pumped out the most winners this year. According to lottery data , 52 people have won $1 million in the 500x The Cash game in 2024, the most recent one being a winning ticket sold at Reliance Food Mart in St. Petersburg last week. There were 43 $1 million winners last year.
- Top prize: $25 million
- Ticket Price: $50
- Odds of winning $25 million: 1-in-21,419,145
- Odds of winning $1 million: 1-in-274,004
- Odds of winning anything: 1-in-4.5
- How to play: Match any of your numbers to any of the winning numbers to win the prize shown for that number. Get a 5X, 10X, 20X, 50X, 100X or 500X symbol and win 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 or 500 times the prize shown for that symbol. Get a moneybag symbol, win double the prize amount shown for all 35 prizes.
- $500 bonus: Match any of the winning numbers to one or both of your bonus numbers to win $500 instantly per bonus spot.
No one has won either of the two #25 million jackpots but the odds there are a bit steeper, at 1-in-2,1920,355. There are still 108 million-dollar jackpots remaining.
The odds of winning the grand prize in the $1,000,000 A Year For Life Spectacular aren't great. Marquis Anderson of Fort Lauderdale did it in 2023 but no one else has yet (he took the cash option of $16 million).
But this game has hands down the best odds to win a million bucks in any Florida Lottery game, "just" 1 in 187,709. Since March 2023, 144 people have won $1 million in this game.
- Top prize: $1 million a year for life
- Ticket Price: $50
- Odds of winning $1 million a year for life: 1-in-21,727,995
- Odds of winning $1 million: 1-in-185,709
- Odds of winning anything: 1-in-4.23
- How to play: Match any of your numbers to any of the winning numbers, win the prize shown for that number. Get a 5X, 10X, 20X, 50X, 100X or 500X symbol and win 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 or 500 times the prize shown for that symbol.
There are still 90 $1 million jackpots left, and one $1,000,000 For Life jackpot.
Whichever one you try, the odds are still against you. But they're better than the splashy, big-ticket games.
Contributing: Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY Network-Florida
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Mega Millions, Powerball? These 3 Florida Lottery games have better odds to win $1 million
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