The massive winnings also induce more people to buy tickets, adding to the jackpot. The best strategies for winning the Mega Millions jackpot.How Mega Millions has been engineered for billion-dollar jackpots.With the lower odds of picking winning numbers plus higher ticket prices, the jackpot is more likely to grow faster from week to week, Matheson said. Mega Millions is played in 45 states along with Washington, D.C., and the U.S. 'They've made these tickets not just a dollar, but $2, which means the jackpot grows twice as fast as it did a decade ago,' he said.Īs the Washington Post reported in 2018, the new rules also gave Mega Millions participants more numbers to choose from, making it tougher to guess the combination needed to win the jackpot. On top of that, MUSL doubled the ticket price. In the past decade, as noted by Matheson, MUSL transformed Mega Millions into a national game, with more people now contributing to the jackpot. Feeling lucky? Here's what to do if you win the lottery 05:12 Why are the jackpots getting bigger?