The Massachusetts Lottery (Massachusetts State Lottery) was created in 1971 once the General Court had legalized gambling in the state.
When forming the MA Lottery, the overall aim was generate funds to be made available to towns and cities within the state of Massachusetts at the same time as providing an exciting and entertaining range of games.
The Massachusetts Lottery is run and administered by a five member commission that includes the Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts.
The very first lottery tickets to be sold by the Mass Lottery were for “The Game”, a twice weekly lottery and these were first sold in March 1972.
The Mass State Lottery led the way in May 1974 by producing the very first scratch-off game to be seen when it introduced “The Instant Game” with a 1st prize of $10,000.
These days the Mass Lottery brings out between 24 and 48 new instant games each year and is not only a national leader in sales but is truly one of the most popular US lotteries.
The Mass Lottery is one of the US States that offers the massive multi-state Mega Millions lottery. As well as this, other games include numerous scratch-offs, The NUMBERS Game, Mass Cash, CASH WinFall, KENO and the state’s main jackpot lotto game that we will be looking at here – MEGABUCKS…
Massachusetts State Lottery Megabucks – Overview
Megabucks is the Massachusetts Lottery flagship lottery game and is a traditional-style, jackpot lotto game. It was introduced back on November 16th 1982.
The Mass Megabucks lottery uses matrix of 6/42 and the jackpot always starts off at $400,000.
If this jackpot figure is not won, the sum will be added onto the next Megabucks draw by way of a “rollover” and it will increase in size like this draw after draw until it is finally won and this aspect of the MA Lottery results in some sizeable jackpot figures.
The Mass Lottery Megabucks is drawn twice per week on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 11.07pm local time with the Mass Lottery results being shown on WCVB-TV Channel 5 at approximately 11.20pm.
We are very pleased to have reviewed the Mass Lottery Megabucks game here and would recommend having a go at it whenever you like, to try out your luck – first of all, though, take a look at how it works below…
How It Works…
The Massachusetts Lottery Megabucks game uses what’s called a 6/42 matrix which means that when playing the Megabucks, you need to select 6 numbers from a pool of numbers from 1 to 42 – if you match all 6 numbers drawn then you will be a jackpot winner.
There are other cash prizes to be won too, if you match either 5 of the 6 numbers drawn, 4 numbers or even just 3.
A “Quick Pick” facility is available when playing the Mass Lottery Megabucks similar to the “Lucky Dip” option that is used in the UK National Lottery or Europe’s Euro-Millions or many other US lotteries – which means that you can save time by asking the lottery retailer or computer to select all your numbersfor you.
So actually playing the Megabucks lottery is simple…just select your own 6 numbers or request them to be randomly selected for you.
The cost of each entry into the MA Lotto Megabucks is $1.00.
Random Number Generator
Unlike many of the US lotteries today that use a Random Number Generator (RNG) to make their draws, the Massachusetts Lottery still uses the traditional method of numbered lottery balls to draw their Megabucks lottery game.
Before each live draw takes place, three test drawings are undertaken to ensure that everything is working just as it should be.
Who Can Play?
As with most USA Lottery games, previously only citizens living in the State of Massachusetts were allowed to play in any of the Massachusetts State Lottery games including the Megabucks - you used to have to purchase your Mass lotto tickets from an authorized retailer based within the state itself.
Nowadays, though, there are a good number of online lottery ticket sales agencies such as TheLotter who are both authorized and genuine - you are able to select your Massachusetts Lottery numbers online and purchase your tickets without worrying about where in the world you are living.
This is great news of course if you live outside of Massachusetts & the U.S.A. & want to play the Megabucks lotto & ensure your entry into the next draw or just want to have the convenience & ease of being able to buy lottery tickets online.
Once you have entered into the Megabucks draw, you can then easily check your chosen Massachusetts Lottery results online to see how you have done and to find out if you have become one of the lucky Megabucks winners.
Like nearly all other US lotteries, in Massachusetts you will need to be 18 years of age to be eligible to purchase a ticket for any of the MA State Lottery games including Megabucks.
Some great news here for all USA Lottery players in Massachusetts...
The Mega Millions consortium – who administer the MEGA MILLIONS game – and the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) – who administer the POWERBALL game – have entered into an historic cross-sales agreement across the USA. All US Lotteries that previously sold MEGA MILLIONS tickets can now ALSO sell POWERBALL tickets.
This means that with effect from January 31st 2010 – in addition to the existing MEGA MILLIONS – USA Lottery players in Massachusetts will now ALSO be able to buy lottery tickets for the POWERBALL. You can still buy lottery tickets online, of course, from anywhere around the world.
Since it was first introduced in November 1982, the Mass Lottery Megabucks game has undergone a few changes, primarily to the matrix it uses.
In the beginning, it was a 6/30 lotto game with players needing to pick 6 numbers out of 30.
The matrix was changed on May 7th 1983 when it was increased from 30 to 36 numbers making the Megabucks a 6/36 game.
This was changed again on March 24th 1991 when the range of numbers used increased further to 42 to increase the size of jackpots and the Megabucks has remained a 6/42 game to this day.
Since it began, the Megabucks lottery has produced over 1,724 jackpot lottery winners who have shared in well over $2.4 billion in Megabucks jackpot wins.
You can check on any Mass State Lottery results, either at the local lottery retailers, in the newspapers or on TV at WCVB-TV Channel 5 or from the online agency where you purchased your tickets from.
What Are The Odds?
The odds of winning on the Mass Lottery Megabucks are very competitive when compared to many world lotteries and USA lottery games, especially the Multi-State offerings like Mega Millions and Powerball.
The chances of winning a Massachusetts Lottery Megabucks jackpot are 1 in 5.24 million – for these odds you could be one of the MA Lottery jackpot winners.
For one of the prizes on the second level, the odds come in at 1 in 24.28 thousand.
The likelihood of winning a third tier prize comes in at 1 in 555 and for a prize on the fourth tier the odds are reduce right down to just 1 in 36.
Record Jackpots…
A national record was produced by the Massachusetts Lottery in February and March 1984 when the Megabucks jackpot was not won on 3 draws and the top prize rose to $18.2 million. This was eventually shared by 6 lucky winners during a time that the media termed “Megamania”.
The biggest Megabucks jackpot to date has been $21.71 million.
In April 1999, Maria Grasso became the winner of the largest jackpot in Massachusetts state history when she scooped a whopping $197 million on the Big Game lottery which is know known as Mega Millions.
This figure was beaten in July 2004 when Geraldine Williams from Lowell, MA, won a Mega Millions jackpot of $294 million, becoming the largest single-ticket winner in North American jackpot history.
How Are Jackpots Paid?
The Massachusetts State Lottery does not offer choices for jackpot winners to receive their winnings as either cash lumps sums or annuity payments. So if you win a Mass Lottery Megabucks jackpot you will automatically be paid your winnings in the form of an annuity.
The annuity would be paid to you in equal yearly payments over a 20 year period.
You will need to claim any Massachusetts Lottery prize, including the jackpot, if you are a winner, within 365 days of the draw taking place.
If your MA Lotto win is up to $600 you will be able to claim your prize from any of the thousands of MA Lottery retailers across the state.
If your win is between $600 and $49,999 then you will be able to claim your prize at any of the Massachusetts Lottery regional offices.
If you are a lucky jackpot winner of the Megabucks Lotto, you will need to will need to make your claim at the Massachusetts State Lottery Headquarters in Braintree.
Of course, if you play lottery online - whatever your win - this will not be a concern for you, as your lottery ticket sales agency,such as TheLotter will take care of all this for you.
How The State Benefits…
The state of Massachusetts and its citizens benefit greatly from the activities of the Massachusetts Lottery.
Funds are provided for the Local Aid Fund and given back to the towns and cities in Massachusetts in the form of local aid.
Along with other lotteries, the Mass Lottery partners with the state police in helping with the search for and recovery of abducted children through the AMBER alert program right across the state.