Which American lottery offers better odds of winning? Powerball or MegaMillions?

When we talk about chances of winning American lottery we need to distinguish between different types odds of winning, namely:

– Odds of winning the main prize
– Odds of winning particular tier prize, 2nd tier prize, 3rd tier prize, etc…
– Odds of winning any prize

Let’s dive in that topic.

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So, which American lottery offers better chances of winning the main prize? Is it easier to win the main prize in Powerball or MegaMillions?

It is slightly easier to win the main prize in Powerball lottery than in MegaMillions lottery. But still both lotteries offers slim chances to win the main prize, which are in case of both lotteries as follows:

The chances to win Powerball American lottery are 1 in around 292 million.

The chances to win MegaMillions American lottery are 1 in around 302 million.

Which lottery offers better chances to win other significant prizes? Powerball or MegaMillions?

There are other prizes which can be substantial winnings, namely 2nd tier prizes and 3rd tier prizes. In case of other tier prizes the winnings are symbolic therefore we are not going to analyse winning odds differences between Powerball and MegaMillions for those smaller winnings.

In case of Powerball lottery 2nd tier prize can range between 1 million and 10 million, this depends on PowerPlay number.

In case of MegaMillions lottery 2nd tier prize can range similarly between 1 million and 10 million, in case of MegaMillions lottery this depends on Megaplier number.

For both lotteries Powerball and MegaMillions the chances of winning 2nd tier prize are similar, however Powerball lottery gives slightly better chances to win second prize.

In case of Powerball lottery the odds of winning second prize are 1 in around 11 million.

In case of MegaMillions lottery the odds of winning second prize are 1 in around 12 million

Is it easier to win 3rd tier prize in Powerball lottery or MegaMillions lottery?

The odds of winning the third prize in case of Powerball lottery and MegaMillions lottery are almost the same.

1 in 913 thousands in case of Powerball lottery.
1 in 931 thousands in case of MegaMillions lottery.

However Powerball lottery payout for winning 3rd tier prize is much more generous than in case of MegaMillions lottery.

Powerball lottery 3rd prize winner takes home between $50 thousand and $500 thousand, this depends on PowerPlay number.

MegaMillions 3rd prize winner takes home much less, namely: between $10 thousand and $100 thousand.

In case of third tier prizes the differences are quite significant. In case of Powerball lottery the winnings are as much as 5 times larger, when comparing with MegaMillions lottery.

Which lottery offers overall better chances of winning any prize? Is this Powerball lottery or MegaMillions lottery?

Overall odds of winning any prize in Powerball lottery are 1 in 24

Overall odds of winning any prize in MegaMillions lottery are 1 in around 15

Overall it is easier to win any prize in MegaMillions lottery when comparing with American Powerball lottery.

However it is easier to win larger prizes in case of Powerball lottery when comparing with MegaMillions lottery, additionally those larger winnings are significantly larger in case of Powerball lottery, then in case of MegaMillions lottery.

In conclusion we would say that:

Considering the cost of lottery ticket almost the same in case of both lotteries, it is much more advantageous to participate in Powerball lottery than in MegaMillions lottery. This is of course from statistical point of view and risk reward ratio.

Although MegaMillions lottery offers better overall odds of winning any prize, Powerball lottery offers better odds of winning larger prizes and those larger prizes are much bigger than in case of MegaMillions lottery. At the end of the day, the lottery players are after big life changing winnings not some petty small prizes to sweet up the misery.

Therefore Powerball lottery is more suitable for winnig big than MegaMillios. However you can try both lotteries, below are the links: where to buy lottery tickets for both American lotteries.

In order to participate in American Powerball lottery click here or banner below:

In order to participate in American lottery MegaMillions click here or banner below:

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New wpDataTable

Generated by wpDataTables

Rank	Lottery Date Results		odds to win Jackpot
1	Italy – SuperStar	1 in	56035316700
2	Italy – SuperEnalotto	1 in	622614630
3	U.S. – Mega Millions	1 in	302575350
4	U.S. – Powerball	1 in	292201338
5	EuroMillions ﾖ Austria	1 in	139838160
6	Germany – Lotto	1 in	139838160
7	Spain – La Primitiva	1 in	139838160
8	Australia – Powerball Lotto	1 in	134490400
9	Europe – EuroJackpot	1 in	95344200
10	Brazil – Mega-Sena	1 in	50063860
11	Australia – Oz Lotto	1 in	45379620
12	Hungary – Otoslotto	1 in	43949268
13	Italy – Lotto	1 in	43949268
14	South Africa – PowerBall	1 in	42375200
15	New Zealand – Powerball	1 in	38383800
16	Mexico – Melate	1 in	32468436
17	Spain – El Gordo	1 in	31625100
18	Texas – Lotto Texas	1 in	25827165
19	Texas – Lotto Texas Extra	1 in	25827165
20	Romania – Joker	1 in	24435180

Lottery Date Results	odds to win Jackpot
Australia – Monday Lotto	8,145,060
Australia – Oz Lotto	45,379,620
Australia – Powerball Lotto	134,490,400
Australia – Saturday Lotto	8,145,060
Australia – Wednesday Lotto	8,145,060
Austria – Lotto	8,145,060
Brazil – Mega-Sena	50,063,860
Canada – Lotto 649	13,983,816
Canada – Ontario 49	13,983,816
Chile – Clasico Loto	4,496,388
Colombia – Baloto	15,401,568
EuroMillions – Austria	139,838,160
Europe – EuroJackpot	95,344,200
France – Loto	19,068,840
Germany – Lotto	139,838,160
Hungary – Hatoslotto	8,145,060
Hungary – Otoslotto	43,949,268
Italy – Lotto	43,949,268
Italy – MillionDAY	3,478,761
Italy – SuperEnalotto	622,614,630

Rank	Lottery Name		odds to win Jackpot
1	Italy - SuperStar	1 in	56,035,316,700
2	Italy - SuperEnalotto	1 in	622,614,630
3	U.S. - MegaMillions		302,575,350
4	U.S. - Powerball	1 in	292,201,338
5	EuroMillions – Austria	1 in	139,838,160
6	Germany - Lotto	1 in	139,838,160
7	Spain - La Primitiva	1 in	139,838,160
8	Australia - Powerball Lotto	1 in	134,490,400
9	Europe - EuroJackpot	1 in	95,344,200
10	Brazil - Mega-Sena	1 in	50,063,860
11	Australia - Oz Lotto	1 in	45,379,620
12	Hungary - Otoslotto	1 in	43,949,268
13	Italy - Lotto	1 in	43,949,268
14	South Africa - PowerBall	1 in	42,375,200
15	New Zealand - Powerball	1 in	38,383,800
16	Mexico - Melate	1 in	32,468,436
17	Spain - El Gordo	1 in	31,625,100
18	Texas - Lotto Texas	1 in	25,827,165
19	Texas - Lotto Texas Extra	1 in	25,827,165
20	Romania - Joker	1 in	24,435,180
21	U.S. - Cash4Life	1 in	21,846,048
22	South Africa - Lotto	1 in	20,358,520
23	France - Loto	1 in	19,068,840
24	Colombia - Baloto	1 in	15,401,568
25	Canada - Lotto 649	1 in	13,983,816
26	Canada – Ontario 49	1 in	13,983,816
27	Poland - Lotto	1 in	13,983,816
28	Romania - Loto 6/49	1 in	13,983,816
29	Spain - BonoLoto	1 in	13,983,816
30	Ireland – Irish Lotto	1 in	10,737,573
31	Japan - Loto 7	1 in	10,295,472
32	Peru - Tinka	1 in	9,366,819
33	Australia - Monday Lotto	1 in	8,145,060
34	Australia - Saturday Lotto	1 in	8,145,060
35	Australia - Wednesday Lotto	1 in	8,145,060
36	Austria - Lotto	1 in	8,145,060
37	Hungary - Hatoslotto	1 in	8,145,060
38	Japan - Loto 6	1 in	6,096,454
39	Chile - Clasico Loto	1 in	4,496,388
40	New Zealand - Lotto	1 in	3,838,380
41	Peru - Kabala	1 in	3,838,380
42	Italy - MillionDAY	1 in	3,478,761
43	Mexico - Melate Retro	1 in	3,262,623
44	Texas - Texas Two Step	1 in	1,832,600
45	Poland - Mini Lotto	1 in	850,668
46	South Africa - Daily Lotto	1 in	376,992
47	Texas - Cash Five	1 in	324,632
48	Japan - Mini Loto	1 in	169,911
49	Mexico - Chispazo	1 in	98,280