Megabucks Jackpot

• Megabucks Jackpot Winners
• Megabucks Jackpot Las Vegas
• Megabucks Jackpot Igt
• How Is Megabucks Paid Out

Welcome to the California Lottery website. It’s your ticket to full access! See jackpots, winning numbers, next draws, new games, and more. Oregon Megabucks jackpots increase on a rolling basis until there is a winner or multiple winners. You can find the latest Megabucks jackpot amounts here on the Oregon Megabucks Jackpots page. What are the Megabucks winning numbers? View the latest Megabucks winning numbers in the Lottery.com app or here on the Oregon Megabucks Results page. (KOIN) — Two friends are splitting the winnings of a Megabucks jackpot, each taking home about $1.3 million. Erik Maki and Brian Krahmer of Hillsboro have been friends since. Ready, Set, PLAY! New February Scratchers® are here: For your Valentine, it's CA Love; Special Bonus Bingo calls for extra fun with four bonus games; Get ready for your close up and imagine the applause when you play Lights, Camera, Cash!; Uncover up to $750,000 with Mystery Crossword; Go big with 100X Scratchers® - top prize of $5,000,000; Available now at over 23,000 California retailers. JACKPOT amount is estimated. Megabucks odds based on two plays for $1. Prizes are approximately 53.5% of sales. EZ Match odds based on one play for $1. Prizes are approximately 63.1% of sales.The prize money allocated to the JACKPOT shall be equally divided by the number of.

This Tri-State Lotto Commission jackpot game has been a favorite of lottery players in Maine since the game began in 1985. The game was changed in 2009 to provide better overall odds of winning, the second prize went from $10,000 to $30,000 and the starting jackpot was set at $1,000.000.

Always remember, Keep it Fun. Play Responsibly.

Need to check your numbers on your Tri-State Megabucks Plus ticket?

Below are the winning Megabucks Plus numbers. Remember all Megabucks Plus tickets expire one (1) year after the draw date.

Disclaimer:

The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only. All information is entered manually and is subject to error. The Maine State Lottery makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of this information but is not responsible for any errors contained on this page. In case of a discrepancy between the winning numbers listed on this page and the official winning numbers, the official results shall prevail. A winning ticket must be validated on the Maine State Lottery's gaming system for final winner verification. Complete Megabucks Plus game information and prize claiming instructions are available from any Maine Lottery retail agent or by email at MaineLottery@Maine.gov.

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.

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.

Megabucks Jackpot Winners

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.

Megabucks Jackpot Las Vegas

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

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.

Megabucks Jackpot Igt

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.

How Is Megabucks Paid Out

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.