Odds Of Winning Megabucks

• What Are The Odds Of Winning Megabucks
• Megabucks Winning Numbers
• Chances Of Winning Megabucks
• Odds Of Winning Megabucks Jackpot

Megabucks is a Nevada state-wide slot jackpot network that is owned and run by the slot machine company, International Game Technology (IGT). Considered Nevada's state lottery, Megabucks is extremely popular and has created quite a few millionaires in its 19-year history.

Oregon's Game Megabucks has some of the most favorable big prize Jackpot game odds in the world. The jackpot always resets to $1 Million after someone wins and grows steadily each week. A staple for more than 30 years, Megabucks really is Oregon's Game. Our Trees are Big Sticks. You Just Pick Six. Players choose six numbers from 1 to 48 to play Megabucks. The game draws three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. The jackpot starts at $1 million and increases until someone wins. The odds of winning the first prize jackpot are one in 12,271,512 (or 6,135,756 at two games for a dollar). Megabucks is the Oregon draw game that boasts a $1 million starting jackpot that grows until someone wins it! This OR-exclusive game has created over 240 millionaires and recently produced half of the state's top ten highest-dollar winners. Win the jackpot by matching all six winning. How to Win Oregon Megabucks. Beat the odds to match six of six (6/6) numbers drawn at random from the pool of forty-eight to win the jackpot. If more than one winning ticket is sold, all winners will share in the top prize equally. Each player can choose the 25-year annuity or a cash lump sum payment.

Thanks to a wonderful marketing strategy, Megabucks continues to ignite a firestorm every time the jackpot reaches ‘megabuck' status. It is also a slot machine that generates a ridiculous amount of gossip and urban legend circulating on the game and its winners.

However, if you look at the real truth behind IGT's Megabucks, even with all the myths and legends dispelled, it will become apparent that this progressive slot is a poor place to spend your money.

How Does Megabucks Work?

IGT's Megabucks is a dollar coin slot machine that requires 3 coins or $3.00 to hit the jackpot. The jackpot is reset to a predetermined amount after every mega win. While the present reset amount is $10-million, there is chatter that this will be increasing to $11-million.

Megabucks is part of the company's MegaJackpot slot system that connects about 750 machines in 136 Nevada casinos to one primary jackpot that builds from the base jackpot amount. International Game Technology owns the Megabucks machines and the casino gets a cut of the money that each machine wins from the players. It is common knowledge that IGT created Megabucks to compete with state lotteries.

Where Can You Play Megabucks?

Nevada is the true home of Megabucks and is found in nearly all of the casinos on the strip. Unlike multi-state lotteries, this game does not cross state lines. IGT runs Megabucks jackpots in the states of California, New Jersey and Mississippi, as well as some Indian reservations.

I've had the opportunity to throw a few dollars in the Megabucks ring on a trip to Mississippi. I noticed the jackpot was much lower than I have seen in Las Vegas and while I did feel like, by some magic formula, my odds were better because the stakes were lower I did not win.

However, these don't include as many venues as the Nevada edition and their jackpots are usually only a fraction of the original. Each state that offers Megabucks has a separate jackpot system with individual meters and winners. If a jackpot is won in one state, it does not affect the progressive jackpot in another.

Each Megabucks machine has its own random number and hence chooses its own outcomes. These outcomes are then reported to a central location. When the jackpot is hit on one machine, the central station sends out a message to the other machines, resetting their respective meters.

How About the Odds of Winning Megabucks?

Statistics about the true odds of winning the Megabucks jackpot remain sketchy at best.

It is certainly understandable why the betting for the Megabucks sometimes reaches chaotic proportions and has people crossing over the state line just to have a shot at winning so many millions.

But do winners really receive what the games advertise? Let's take the example of a $35-million win. Initially, for that amount of money, winners get a check of $1.4 million. They then have between sixty and ninety days to decide whether they want to take their money in annual installments over twenty-five years or a lump sum of 60% of the money.

For a $35-million win, that would result in $21-million before taxes. Obviously, most winners choose the former and take the lump sum payment.

Whichever option the winner chooses, he or she still needs to take into account the taxes payable to the IRS. They are subject to the maximum tax rate of nearly 40%, with state taxes also needing to be taken into account. When all is said and done, the prize money dwindles somewhat miserably after Uncle Sam takes a bite.

Of course, nobody has ever refused the money all together & taken $0. So, I suppose most people wouldn't scoff at $14 million or so.

Megabucks Curse

What Are The Odds Of Winning Megabucks

No slot machine in the history of the world has had close to as many urban legends, myths and stories surrounding the game of Megabucks.

Typically, these legends center around the unfortunate fate of Megabucks winners, which leads the masses to believe that winning the multi-million dollar jackpot will result in an ultimately unlucky death. While pretty much all of these stories have proven to be fabricated, Megabucks still has the obstinate reputation of being cursed.

Many believe that the genesis of the rumors hanging over Megabucks is based on the truly tragic story of a 37 year-old cocktail waitress named Cynthia Jay-Brennan. In 2000, Jay-Brennan, was the lucky winner of a $34.9-million Megabucks jackpot, played in the Desert Inn Casino in Vegas.

Less than 2 months after her win, Jay-Brennan was surprisingly involved in a car crash. Her sister was killed instantly and poor Cynthia, herself, was left a quadriplegic. The driver of the car that hit the pair was under the influence of alcohol and was eventually tried and sentenced to 28 years; however, this did not stop rumors flying that Megabucks was a cursed game to win.

The fact is that Jay-Brennan's accident was not the first of these rumors, as they circulated well before the year 2000. However, since this event, stories continuously surface regarding the tragic fate of every winner of the latest Megajackpot win.

When another young man hit the jackpot in 2003, rumors spread like a virus of his untimely ‘death' through various ends, including a fatal drug overdose in a casino hotel and in a gang fight as far away as Los Angeles. All these stories have, thus far, proven to be false and while the winner chose to remain anonymous, IGT has assured the public time and time again that the lucky young man is alive and well, and enjoying his new found wealth.

To date, none of these stories have come up as anything other than tall tales.

A rumor, which has not yet been dispelled, is one regarding the change in the Megabucks programming system. Some claim that IGT changed the programming of the system to make the jackpot hit less frequently but for more money. While IGT claims that they did not do anything of the sort, there are many experts in the gambling field who feel that some sort of change was made in the past.

Finally, a minor rumor that can be dispelled is one that says that the central station to which each jackpot machine reports chooses the winner. IGT assures its gambling public that each machine has its own RNG and thus every machine chooses its own outcome.

Conclusion

So, while you now understand that most stories flying around the industry regarding the curse of Megabucks are false, I cannot ignore the fact that this is simply a bad slot game to play for 2 reasons.

First is the house 'hold'. Megabucks holds between 10% – 15% of every dollar played. Many slot machines in Nevada hold as little as 2% or 3%. The second reason that makes Megabucks a terrible play for the serious gambler is that you only receive 60% of your jackpot. There are many other progressive slots in your casino that pay big jackpots, but give you the whole thing.

When we strip Megabucks from all the pomp and glam that surrounds it, we find a middle of the road progressive slot game that doesn't give you much for your money. And even if you do get incredibly lucky and win, you don't exactly get the flashy numbers promised to you. Instead you will have to settle for a sum that is much more modest in nature, paid off to you over a period of 25 years. Final conclusion? Megabucks is not a mega hit. In fact, there are lots more fish in the proverbial gambling sea.

Megabucks Winning Numbers

1. Megabucks

Megabucks is the Oregon draw game that boasts a $1 million starting jackpot that grows until someone wins it! This OR-exclusive game has created over 240 millionaires and recently produced half of the state's top ten highest-dollar winners. Win the jackpot by matching all six winning numbers drawn.

With three draws per week, every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 7:29 PM PT, there are plenty of chances to win. On drawing days, there is a draw break from 7:29-7:30 PM when you cannot purchase or validate tickets.

Chances Of Winning Megabucks

How to Play

For just $1, you'll get two sets of numbers ($0.50 per game). You can play up to a maximum of ten games for $5.

Finally, a minor rumor that can be dispelled is one that says that the central station to which each jackpot machine reports chooses the winner. IGT assures its gambling public that each machine has its own RNG and thus every machine chooses its own outcome.

Conclusion

So, while you now understand that most stories flying around the industry regarding the curse of Megabucks are false, I cannot ignore the fact that this is simply a bad slot game to play for 2 reasons.

First is the house 'hold'. Megabucks holds between 10% – 15% of every dollar played. Many slot machines in Nevada hold as little as 2% or 3%. The second reason that makes Megabucks a terrible play for the serious gambler is that you only receive 60% of your jackpot. There are many other progressive slots in your casino that pay big jackpots, but give you the whole thing.

When we strip Megabucks from all the pomp and glam that surrounds it, we find a middle of the road progressive slot game that doesn't give you much for your money. And even if you do get incredibly lucky and win, you don't exactly get the flashy numbers promised to you. Instead you will have to settle for a sum that is much more modest in nature, paid off to you over a period of 25 years. Final conclusion? Megabucks is not a mega hit. In fact, there are lots more fish in the proverbial gambling sea.

Megabucks Winning Numbers

1. Megabucks

Megabucks is the Oregon draw game that boasts a $1 million starting jackpot that grows until someone wins it! This OR-exclusive game has created over 240 millionaires and recently produced half of the state's top ten highest-dollar winners. Win the jackpot by matching all six winning numbers drawn.

With three draws per week, every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 7:29 PM PT, there are plenty of chances to win. On drawing days, there is a draw break from 7:29-7:30 PM when you cannot purchase or validate tickets.

Chances Of Winning Megabucks

How to Play

For just $1, you'll get two sets of numbers ($0.50 per game). You can play up to a maximum of ten games for $5.

Another option is Jackpot Trio, a fast way to buy tickets for all three jackpot games and get your chance to win the largest Oregon Lottery prizes. For $5, you'll receive a Quick Pick ticket each for Mega Millions ($2 value), Powerball ($2 value), and Megabucks ($1 value).

Each Megabucks play slip contains 10 game boards with letters A through J. For each game you want to play, choose six different numbers from a total of 48 on the game board. You can also ask the retailer for a Quick Pick to have your numbers randomly generated by the terminal.

You can also add the Kicker multiplier option, which offers the chance at bigger prizes if you match three of six, four of six, or five of six winning numbers. If you match four or five numbers, you win four times as much. Match three numbers and you'll win $4. Kicker costs an extra $1 for every $1 Megabucks play.

If you'd like to play your lucky numbers in future games, you can save yourself the extra trips by purchasing consecutive drawings. If you buy 26 consecutive drawings, you'll get a discounted price of $25. Using a game slip, you can play your numbers for the following number of future draws: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20 or 26. At a lottery terminal, you can play one through 24 or one through 26 advance games.

Prizes and Odds of Winning

During each draw, six winning numbers out of 48 are randomly selected.

If you match all six numbers, you win the jackpot. You can choose to receive your prize as an annuity paid out in equal installments over 30 years, or receive half the advertised value as a single lump sum.

Below are the prizes you win if your numbers match the winning numbers drawn, and the odds in each prize tier.

Lightning link download. The Kicker column shows each prize level with the multiplier added.

Odds Of Winning Megabucks Jackpot