Powerball and Mega Millions are similar lottery games that include several states. Here's a comparison.
THE GAME: In Powerball, players try to match six digits. Five white balls are drawn from a pool of balls, numbered one through 59. The sixth number, the Powerball is drawn from a pool of red balls numbered 1 through 39.
In Mega Millions, players choose five numbers from 1 through 56 and the sixth number from a separate pot of yellow "Mega" balls numbered 1 through 46.
THE PRIZES: In both games, jackpots are determined by ticket sales. Powerball has a minimum jackpot of $20 million, the value of a 30-year annuity purchased by the cash in the jackpot pool. Powerball awards much smaller cash prizes for matching various combinations of numbers. The lowest win is $3 for hitting the Powerball only.
The Mega Millions jackpot is also based on ticket sales and the value of a 26-year annuity. The lowest win in Mega Millions is $2 for hitting the yellow ball.
THE ODDS: The odds if hitting the Powerball jackpot are one in 195,249,054. The odds of hitting the Mega Millions jackpot are one in 175,711,53. To put that in perspective, of all the millions of Powerball tickets sold in the nation in a year, only about 13 hit the jackpot.
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