Odds longer, prizes bigger as California joins Mega Millions

<p>The odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery game got a bit longer on Wednesday, but the prizes also got sweeter.</p><p>California became the 12th state in the Atlanta-based game, adding its huge population of potential players that officials say could swell the game's jackpots as high as half a billion dollars.</p><p>At the same time, the odds of taking the grand prize were tweaked _ from one in 135 million to one in 175 million.</p><p>"We're not ever trying to hide the fact this is a very long-odds game," said Georgia Lottery CEO Margaret DeFrancisco. "That's how you get to the big jackpots."</p><p>Starting Wednesday, players will pick five numbers between one and 56 and a Mega Ball number between one and 46.</p><p>Currently, players pick between one and 52 for all six numbers.</p><p>The first drawing using the new rules will be Friday, with the jackpot at $42 million.</p><p>DeFrancisco said lottery officials have been working for over a year to craft odds that would factor in the number of new players and still allow for the massive payouts that lure more people to play the game.</p><p>"This game is all about big jackpots _ that's why people play," she said. "We can't have the jackpot hit at $12 million all the time because people just won't have the interest."</p><p>The game's largest jackpot, $363 million, was won in May 2000.</p><p>The minimum Mega Millions jackpot has been increased from $10 million to $12 million. The game's second prize has been raised from $175,000 to $250,000 for picking the first five numbers but not the Mega ball.</p><p>Third prize has increased from $5,000 to $10,000.</p><p>The odds of winning a prize in the game have improved from 1-in-43 to roughly 1-in-40.</p><p>In California, the game kicked off Wednesday with several Hollywood-style events.</p><p>Miss California, Veena Goel, bought a ticket at a press event at the state capitol in Sacramento, while former contestants from reality television's "The Apprentice" lined up for a second shot at becoming millionaires at a West Hollywood newsstand.</p><p>Atlanta meteorologist Glenn Burns, who announces the game's televised drawings, will do so Friday from Paramount Studios in Hollywood, DeFrancisco said.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc080)</p>

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