Picking what Lottery to Play

Picking which lottery to play is half the battle. I live in Massachusetts to my options came down to 5 of the following games. Below are the rules the odds, a review, and a score card for each. Find out what game is your Power Ticket game. 

Mega Millions

Rules: Pick 5 numbers out of 56. You also choose 1 Mega Ball number out of 46.

Odds:

5	+	1	1 in 175,711,536	JACKPOT
5			1 in 3,904,701	$250,000**
4	+	1	1 in 689,065	$10,000**
4			1 in 15,313	$150**
3	+	1	1 in 13,781	$150**
2	+	1	1 in 844	$10
3			1 in 306	$7
1	+	1	1 in 141	$3
0	+	1	1 in 75	$2

Current jackpot $39 Million

Review: Mega Millions is simply a game not worth playing if you have power ball in your state and don’t mind the extra Dollar it costs. Mega Millions has the worst odds and the second best jackpot and secondary winnings. Finally I do not like any of the games the draws one ball out of a separate pool, it makes it very difficult to win the jackpot.

Scores: 1 being the best and 5 the worst

Odds -5

Jackpot- 2

Secondary Winnings-2

Cost  -1

Power Ball

Rules: Pick 5 numbers out of 59. You also choose 1 Power Ball number out of 39.

Odds:

5	+	1	1 in 175,223,510*	JACKPOT
5			1 in 5,153,632.65	$1,000,000
4	+	1	1 in 648,975.96	$10,000
4			1 in 19,087.53	$100
3	+	1	1 in 12,244.83	$100
3			1 in 360.14	$7
2	+	1	1 in 706.43	$7
1	+	1	1 in 110.81	$4
0	+	1	1 in 55.41	$4

Current Jackpot $50 Million

Review: See Mega Millions review, has slightly better odds and bigger jackpot but still plays with a ball from another pool. Powerball is the most expensive with a charge of $2 per play

Scores: 1 being the best and 5 the worst

Odds-4

Jackpot-1

Secondary Winnings-1

Cost -2

Mega Bucks Doubler

Rules: Pick 6 numbers out of 49.

Odds:

All 6	1 in 13,983,816	JACKPOT†	JACKPOT†
5 of 6	1 in 54,200.84	$2,500	$5,000
4 of 6	1 in 1,032.40	$100	$200
3 of 6	1 in 56.66	$2	$4

Current Jackpot $1 Milion

Review: This is my pick for game to play, it’s very controlled since one number can only be picked once, has good odds and a fair jackpot over Mass Cash. Your odds of winning the jackpot are a lot better then they are of winning the Million in Powerball.

Scores: 1 being the best and 5 the worst

Odds-2

Jackpot-4

Secondary Winnings-4

Cost-1

Lucky for Life

Rules: Pick 5 numbers out of 40. You also choose 1 Lucky Ball number out of 21.

Odds:

5 + Lucky Ball	1 in 13,818,168.00**	$7,000 a week for LIFE! **
5	1 in 690,908.40*	$25,000*
4 + Lucky Ball	1 in 78,960.96*	$2,000*
4	1 in 3,948.04	$100
3 + Lucky Ball	1 in 2,322.38	$50
3	1 in 116.11	$10
2 + Lucky Ball	1 in 211.12	$15
2	1 in 10.55	$2
1 + Lucky Ball	1 in 52.78	$5
0 + Lucky Ball	1 in 42.56	$4

18,200,000 over 50 years

Review: Lucky for life is a solid game with odds that they say are as good as Mega Bucks but with a much bigger jackpot, around 18 Million over 50 years. It has a separate pool ball which makes it a no play in my book since trending is harder.

Scores: 1 being the best and 5 the worst

Odds -3

Jackpot -3

Secondary Winnings-3

Cost -1

Mass Cash

Rules: Pick 5 numbers out of 35.

Odds:

All 5	1 in 324,632	$100,000
4 of 5	1 in 2,164.21	$250
3 of 5	1 in 74.63	$10

Jackpot is $100,000

Review: If your goal is just to win, and your ok with the cap of $100,000 than Mass Cash is for you. It has clearly the best odds but the jackpot is small at a meager $100,000. There is no secondary Ball which is a big bonus as well as only uses 5 number instead of 6 with a relatively small group between 1 and 35. Mass Cash would have been my pick if the jackpot was larger.

Scores: 1 being the best and 5 the worst

Odds -1

Jackpot -5

Secondary Winnings-5

Cost -1

There is a lot to play but to follow trends and create a Power Ticket calculator it was between Megabucks and Mass cash. Having the larger jackpot drew me to Megabucks so that will be the game that I will be playing using Power Ticket Numbers.