Mega Millions®
How to Play
Visit a Maryland Lottery Retailer
You must be 18 years old or older to buy or cash Mega Millions tickets.
Give a Maryland Lottery retailer your playslip or ePlayslip (created on the Lottery’s mobile app), or use a self-service terminal to select your own numbers, or use “Quick Pick.” Before you use your playslip, be sure to verify that the numbers selected are the numbers you want to play.
About Mega Millions Playslips:
- Playslips are available at any Maryland Lottery® retail location or create and use the ePlayslip available on the MD Lottery or My Lottery Rewards (MLR) mobile app.
- Each playslip has five play areas or panels labeled A, B, C, D and E. You can purchase up to five Mega Millions plays on each playslip. Each play costs $5.
- A play consists of two fields. Select and mark five (5) numbers from 1 through 70 in the upper field and mark one Mega Ball number from 1 through 24 in the lower field. If you select too many or too few numbers, your playslip will be rejected.
- Make a heavy vertical mark through each number you choose. Use only pencil or blue or black ink. Red ink will not be accepted. If you make a mistake, mark the “VOID” box for that play. Then use any remaining open play areas to complete your selections. Please do not attempt to erase errors.
- If you want the terminal to randomly “Quick Pick” your numbers, mark the “QP5” box for White Balls and/or the “QP1” box for the gold Mega Ball for each play you want to purchase.
- Each purchase comes with a built-in multiplier. The multiplier for each play you purchase will be printed on your ticket and will apply to all non-jackpot prizes won. The multiplier will be either 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or 10X.
- If you are using the ePlayslip on the MD Lottery or MLR mobile app, follow the same instructions, but instead of handing your paper playslip to the retailer for processing, your ePlayslip will be scanned from your mobile phone.
- It is your responsibility to make sure your playslip represents the numbers you wish to play, the drawing(s) you want to enter, and all other information you want.
Drawings – Play More than One!
Mega Millions drawings are held twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday nights. You can play the same numbers for 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 or 15 drawings in a row, including the next drawing, by marking the appropriate “NUMBER OF DRAWS” box on a playslip or selecting the number of draws at the self-service terminal.
For advanced draws: When you are buying an advanced draw ticket, you’re playing the same exact ticket for multiple future draws – so all of the game data, including the multiplier(s) stay the same
Ticket Cost
Multiply the number of plays you are purchasing by the number of drawing dates you are purchasing. Then multiply the result by $5 to determine your Mega Millions ticket cost.
Mega Millions Tickets
MEGA MILLIONS TICKETS CANNOT BE CANCELLED OR VOIDED AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN PROCESSED. Tickets are only valid for the drawing date(s) shown on the ticket. On Tuesday and Friday nights, sales for that night’s Mega Millions drawing are cut off at 10:45 p.m. All tickets sold after the cut-off will be for the next drawing . Winning tickets must be cashed in the state/jurisdiction where they were purchased.
If you are a winner before the final draw on your ticket, you can still cash your ticket immediately. You will receive an exchange ticket for the remaining draw(s).
Multiplier
The built-in multiplier printed on your ticket is used to determine the amount you win on non-jackpot prizes won for that Mega Millions draw. The multipliers are 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X and 10X.
How it Works
The prize structure includes a “Base Prize” for each prize tier. If you win a $500 base prize and the multiplier printed for that play on your ticket is 5, you multiply your winnings by five for a total prize of $2,500. The multiplier does not apply to the jackpot prize.
How to Win
There are nine ways to win Mega Millions prizes, depending on how many of your numbers match the numbers drawn. The jackpot is pari-mutuel, so if there are multiple jackpot winning tickets each receives an equal share of the prize. All other Mega Millions prizes, ranging from $10 to $10 million are set, but may become pari-mutuel in certain circumstances (See * under Prize Structure). You may only win one prize category per play, the highest prize won on that play.
