Mega Millions Jackpot Odds Compared to Life Events & Sports Betting Parlays

By Bill Speros Nov 12th, 2025 10:24 AM EST

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The Mega Million jackpot stands nearly $1 billion for the drawing Friday night. The $965 million jackpot carries a cash value of more than $445 million. The odds of winning are 290,472,336-1. Let's take a look at Mega Millions Jackpot Odds Compared to Life Events.

The jackpot ranks as the eighth-largest in the history of MegaMillions. The largest lottery jackpot on record remains the $2.04 billion Powerball prize won in California on November 7, 2022.  The most recent Mega Millions jackpot this large ultimately grew to a $1.269 billion won in California on December 27, 2024. After four jackpot wins in early 2025, Friday’s drawing will be the 40th drawing in this run, a MegaMillions record. The jackpot most recently hit in Virginia on June 27.

The prize would be paid out over 30 years via an annuity, or paid in one cash sum.

Odds In Real Life Vs Powerball

Here are some “real life” events with the odds they carry in comparison to the 290,472,336-1 odds of the MegaMillions Jackpot. 

The winning numbers drawn Tuesday were 10, 13, 40, 42 and 46 with a gold Mega Ball of 1.

Tickets cost $5 and are available in 45 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.. Players select six numbers from two separate pools of numbers -  1 and 70 for the white balls, then select one number between 1 and 24 for the gold Mega Ball.

Playing Every Combination Is Costly

At the price of $5 per ticket, you could buy every possible combination for $1,452,361,680 

So you will have to wait for the jackpot to roll over at least five more times for this strategy to make sense. Let's say you do spend $1,452,361,680 and somehow are able to logistically play the field, even though it would take you about 29 years to fill out those tickets. 

You run the risk of having more than one winner. In that scenario, the jackpot is divided by the number of winning tickets. If you and just one other person win, you'll be in a serious hole before taxes.

Then, there is the Tax Man. After taxes (depending on your home state), you can expect to net anywhere between 45-60% of whatever you do win. The estimated lump-sum payout is sure to increase. But save yourself a few hundred million and limit your ticket purchases. 

Trying To Hit Mega Millions At The Sportsbook

It's hard to find longer odds than the ones on the Mega Millions website, unless you're playing Powerball. But how does that translate to the world of sports betting, or real life? Let's take a look.

Well, 290,472,336-1 is a big number, especially for bettors who are used to seeing value in a +125 moneyline. 

The highest price one would ever see on any legal wager is +1000000. That means you would win $10,000 on a $1 bet, on odds of 10,000-1. The implied probability of that bet is 0.01%.

How might you go about getting a MegaMillions-like return at a sportsbook or on your sports betting app? The answer lies in the mighty parlay – and the book’s willingness to take on such a risk. 

On a $1 bet, the payout for an eight-leg parlay with the odds of each leg averaging +1050 would be about $300 million. Good luck.

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Must be 21+ to participate. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, IL, IA, KY, KS, LA, MD, NC, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA). Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ). Call 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Deposit required. Paid in Bonus Bets. Bets wager excluded from returns. New Customer only. T&Cs, time limits and exclusions apply. Code is for marketing/tracking purposes.

About the Author

Bill Speros

More About Bill

Bill Speros is an award-winning journalist and editor whose career includes stops at USA Today Sports Network / Golfweek, Cox Media, ESPN, Orlando Sentinel and Denver Post.

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