News writer
Making its debut on November 13, 2023, the revamped game removes the doubler feature but increases the potential for big wins.
Despite its old-school charm, Ivy League school vestiges, red brick buildings, and storied history dating back to Paul Revere and his infamous ride through the town, Massachusetts (aka the Bay State) is no longer trying to stay stuck in the past.
Known for making millionaires out of Massachusettsans, by rolling out its newest version of its Megabucks game on November 13, the state’s lottery has elected to update one of its most popular games as an indication players want more value for their buck, aka ballooning jackpots.
While Massachusetts’ Lottery came into being in 1972, ten years passed (1982) before the Megabucks’ game was introduced. After tinkering with the game, the Massachusetts Lottery eventually stuck with the Doubler format it has since operated on since 2008.
Hence, much thought went into the decision to remove the doubler feature and, according to Mark William Bracken, the Executive Director of the Mass Lottery (MA), this was the logic that went into the retooling of the game, “The Megabucks game has been making millionaires in Massachusetts for over 40 years, and we are excited about these enhancements that will result in more winners at all prize levels including the jackpot.”
While there are additional updates being made to the game, because the removal of the Megabucks’ doubler option is the most notable, the name needed to reflect its new identity. Hence, the Massachusetts Lottery reverted to using the game’s former moniker of simply, ‘Megabucks’ rather than ‘Megabucks Doubler.’
Additional ways in which the Massachusetts Lottery revised the game include:
- Increased the odds of winning a prize from 1 in 54 to 1 in 39.3.
- Upped the number of drawings held each week from two to three: adding a Monday evening drawing onto the existing Wednesday and Saturday evening draw schedule.
- Raised ticket prices from $1 to $2.
- Reduced size of the number pool, went from 49 to 44; but players still choose six numbers.
According to MA. State Lottery, going back in time to the emergence of Mass. Megabucks’ game, the state has seen multiple standout wins:
“The largest jackpot the game ever hit was $21 million. Split among eight winning tickets in the game’s October 16, 1985 drawing, this, at the time, was the third-largest jackpot in U.S. history.”
“The largest jackpot won on a single ticket in (either Megabucks or Megabucks Doubler history) was $16.35 million, won on September 10, 2022.”
The hope then that the Massachusetts Lottery has is that with new changes to the Megabucks game, they will be able to report even bigger jackpots.
For they are not completely wiping the slate clean of all ‘doubler’ incentives, rather, by setting the ticket price at $2 across the board, the Massachusetts Lottery will be able to double all the regular lower-level prizes—essentially giving players a higher payout should they win.
Going forward, the game’s jackpot will still start at $500,000. However, the seismic shift is that players fortunate enough to match 5 out of 6 of their numbers will see their winnings automatically double: $5,000 versus $2,500; those who match 4/6 will win $200 versus $100, and those who match 3/6, $4 versus $2.
Since its inception more than fifty years ago in 1972, the Massachusetts Lottery has generated more than $140 billion in revenue for the state, returned more than $30 billion in net profit back to local municipalities to use as unrestricted local aid, awarded more than $100 billion in prizes, and paid out more than $8 billion in commissions and bonuses to lottery’s statewide network of retailers.
Massachusetts State Lottery Megabucks’ drawings are held three nights a week: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 9 p.m. EST.
Just because Massachusetts’ well-preserved architecture may still hark back to the days of colonialism, with the revival of its much-revered Megabucks game, the Massachusetts State Lottery is charging full speed ahead with the revival of its much-revered Megabucks game.
Featuring a robust trio of incentives: Better Odds of Winning, Bigger Payouts, and a Third Weekly Drawing, there’s no doubt the state is willing to embrace the opportunities that lie ahead for bigger and better jackpots.
