New York and Ohio also will join Mega Millions, which succeeds the multistate Big Game on May 15. The first drawing will be May 17, with numbers selected each Tuesday and Friday conducted in Atlanta.
Mega Million jackpots will begin at $10 million and are expected to average $80 million, said Rebecca Paul, president of the Georgia Lottery Corp. Jackpots exceeding $500 million are possible with the new game, she said.
But that's because the odds are being raised: 1 in 135 million, with Mega Millions players choosing among 52 numbers and a Mega Ball. The Big Game has odds of 1 in 76 million.
The Big Game, which was established in 1996 and will have its last drawing on May 14, starts at $5 million and averages $26 million.
``We are excited about being a part of the nation's newest and biggest multistate game,'' Paul said.
The nine states in Mega Millions will be: Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia.
The largest jackpot in the Big Game was $363 million in May 2000 with winners in Michigan and Illinois sharing the prize.
The current $200 million prize, which will likely go higher before Friday's drawing, has rolled over 17 times since Feb. 5.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/196243