The Brief
- The starting jackpot for the new Mega Millions is $50M.
- The ticket to play has more than doubled to $5.
- The new game has improved odds, lottery officials said.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Starting Tuesday, the starting jackpot for the Mega Million lottery game will balloon to $50 million, though it also costs more to play.
The 23-year-old game is adopting new rules that California Lottery officials said “promises bigger jackpots and bigger wins more often.”
Officials said that experts predict the average jackpot will be more than $800 million. That’s compared to the approximately $450 million average win under the previous game structure.
Costs more to play
Up until last week, the starting jackpot stood at $20 million. But the cost to play was $2. It will now increase to $5.…