April 5 (UPI) — Those wanting to play Mega Millions now have to pay more for a ticket — the next drawing in the multi-state lottery will cost $5, more than double its long-time cost.
Following Friday’s Mega Millions drawing, the cost of a ticket increased to $5 from $2, for the next one on Tuesday from Atlanta. The estimated jackpot is $54 million.
The lottery can be played in 45 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Virgin Islands. A ticket for the game cost $1 when it debuted in 2002, with the cost doubling to $2 in 2017.
The drawing still will include five white balls selected from 70, but the number of gold ball will drop from 25 to 24.
Lottery official said that the higher ticket price will result in larger starting jackpots and faster-growing prizes. The average jackpot by picking all six numbers will be more than $800 million, much higher than the current $450 million average.
“While some customers may initially be surprised, we believe they’ll come to recognize the added benefits that this price increase enables,” Akshay Khanna, CEO of Jackpot.com, which sells Mega Millions tickets in seven states, told CNN.
“This vastly differs from something like a subway fare hike where you’re paying more for the same ride. With this Mega Millions price increase, players are receiving improved odds alongside larger and faster-growing jackpots,” she said.
The overall odds of winning the entire Mega Millions jackpot will rise from 1 in 302.6 million to 1 in 290.5 million. In addition, there no longer will be a Megaplier, which for $1 increases non-jackpot payouts and is only available in some states.
Just the Jackpot, a $3 ticket that gives a player two plays to win the overall jackpot, but not the lower-payout prizes, has also been eliminated, as have “breakeven prizes,” which means every prize will be more than $5.
The winner can choose to receive the prize in payments over 29 years or to take a lump-sum payment. Taxes also are taken out.
Mega Millions’ roots started on Aug. 31, 1993, as the Big Game with six states participating — Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia — until May 1999, when New Jersey joined.
The Mega Millions game debuted in 2002, and New York and Ohio joined the game. The first Mega Millions drawing on May 17 had a $28 million prize, and the largest prize that year was $93 million.
Other states then joined, including California in June 2005. In January 2010, Mega Millions expanded throughout the nation with 23 more states.
Since the game began, there have been 220 jackpots won by 247 individual tickets with 22 shared by two or more winning tickets. The largest Mega Millions jackpot won on a single ticket had a $1.602 billion prize to a limited liability company in Florida on Oct. 23, 2018.
The rival game Powerball‘s ticket price remains at $2, which is played in 45 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. The game takes place three times a week — Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from Tallahassee, Fla. Powerball’s price went from $1 to $2 in January 2012.