Many people who decide to play Mega Millions pool their money together in order to increase their chances of winning by upping the number of chances to a larger number. This also means they will have to split the winnings with the others but with the winnings being in the millions, it really doesn’t matter because everyone comes out ahead.
Mega Millions began in 1996 as The Big Game with only six states and then each year it seems as if one more state joined until there were 10 and then it leveled off at 13 states for several years. The lottery game changed to Mega Millions and earlier in 2010, 23 more states joined the lottery fun and there are now a total of 36 states that hold the Mega Millions lottery game. Those states include: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Washington, DC, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
If you don’t live in one of these states, that is okay. You can still play Mega Millions online, simply log into the online website, create a user name and password and then put money on your tab – it’s a secure process – and begin choosing your lucky numbers. The numbers are drawn on Tuesday and Friday nights and just like if you had chosen the lucky numbers at the corner store, your numbers in the computer on the secure website are just as good.
Whichever state wins, the money is paid to that state so they benefit from selling the winning tickets. Some of the proceeds go toward government services such as education or social services programs. Other portions of the money go toward paying the retailers and the winners. For instance, if an individual lives in Hawaii but grew up in New York and wants to play the Mega Millions from New York, they simply go online and choose the Mega Millions game in New York.






