Quick answer: the odds of winning the lottery jackpot with one line are 1 in 292,201,338 for Powerball, 1 in 290,472,336 for Mega Millions, 1 in 139,838,160 for EuroMillions and EuroJackpot, and 1 in 22,528,738 for the UK Lotto, whose £2 line has played two draw rounds since June 2026. The calculator below works out the jackpot odds and every prize tier for these games or any game you enter, and shows how your chance, your spend and your average wait change with more lines and more draws.
| Numbers matched | Odds per line |
|---|
Odds are worked out with the same combination maths the lotteries publish. Which matches win a prize, and how much, depends on each game’s rules. Ticket prices are editable because they vary by country.
The calculator runs in your browser and doesn’t store anything you type. Ticket prices are editable, because they differ by country and change from time to time.
What are the odds of winning the lottery?
Here are the jackpot odds for one line in the biggest lotteries, with the chance of winning any prize where the operator publishes it.
| Lottery | You pick | Jackpot odds (1 line) | Any prize | Price per line | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powerball (US) | 5 from 69 + 1 from 26 | 1 in 292,201,338 | 1 in 24.87 | $2 | Mon, Wed, Sat |
| Mega Millions (US) | 5 from 70 + 1 from 24 | 1 in 290,472,336 | About 1 in 23 | $5 | Tue, Fri |
| EuroMillions | 5 from 50 + 2 from 12 | 1 in 139,838,160 | 1 in 13 | £2.50 in the UK | Tue, Fri |
| EuroJackpot | 5 from 50 + 2 from 12 | 1 in 139,838,160 | Not published as one figure | €2 | Tue, Fri |
| Lotto (UK) | 6 from 59 (plus a bonus ball) | 1 in 22,528,738 (two rounds) | 1 in 4.9 | £2 | Wed, Sat |
Mega Millions became a $5 game with a new 1-to-24 Mega Ball on 8 April 2025, so older articles that quote jackpot odds of 1 in 302,575,350 (from the old 1-to-25 Mega Ball) are out of date.
How lottery odds are calculated
Lottery odds come from counting combinations. The number of ways to choose k numbers from n is written C(n, k), and the order you pick them in doesn’t matter. Then you multiply by the ways to pick the bonus numbers.
- Powerball: C(69, 5) = 11,238,513 ways to pick the white balls, times 26 red Powerballs = 292,201,338.
- Mega Millions: C(70, 5) = 12,103,014, times 24 Mega Balls = 290,472,336.
- EuroMillions and EuroJackpot: C(50, 5) = 2,118,760, times C(12, 2) = 66 = 139,838,160.
- UK Lotto: C(59, 6) = 45,057,474 per draw round. Since June 2026 each £2 line is entered into two rounds, so your chance per line is roughly doubled, to 1 in 22,528,738.
The smaller prizes use the same idea. To match exactly 4 of the 5 Powerball white balls and miss the Powerball, you need 4 of the 5 winning numbers, 1 of the 64 losing numbers, and 1 of the 25 wrong Powerballs: 5 × 64 × 25 = 8,000 ways out of 292,201,338, or 1 in 36,525. Choose Custom in the calculator to work this out for any lottery.
Does buying more lottery tickets help?
Each extra line adds one more chance, so 10 different Powerball lines are 1 in 29.2 million instead of 1 in 292.2 million. But the numbers stay tiny. Our maths: if you played 100 Powerball lines in every draw for 10 years (1,560 draws), you would spend $312,000 and your chance of hitting the jackpot would still be only about 0.05%, or 1 in 1,873.
Playing more often works the same way. At one line in every Powerball draw (three a week), the average wait for a jackpot is about 1.9 million years. Type your own lines, draws and years into the calculator to see your figures.
Picking “unpopular” numbers doesn’t change your odds, because every combination is equally likely. It can only reduce how many people you would share a jackpot with. To see which numbers have actually come up most, see our count of the most common Powerball numbers.
The UK Lotto change in June 2026
From 10 June 2026, every £2 Lotto line plays two draw rounds, and Match 2 now pays £1 instead of a free Lucky Dip. These are the odds per £2 line, according to lottery.co.uk and Wikipedia:
| Numbers matched | Odds per £2 line | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 in 22,528,738 | Jackpot (shared) |
| 5 + bonus ball | 1 in 3,754,790 | £1 million |
| 5 | 1 in 72,208 | £1,000 |
| 4 | 1 in 1,091 | £50 |
| 3 | 1 in 48.4 | £10 |
| 2 | 1 in 5.4 | £1 |
The chance of winning any prize is now 1 in 4.9, up from 1 in 9.3, according to Public Gaming and Express & Star, both quoting the operator, Allwyn. When we checked, the National Lottery’s own game procedures page still showed the old single-round table, so check your ticket’s terms if the figures differ.
Lottery odds vs other games
A lottery jackpot is a far longer shot than a typical casino bet or a small scratch card prize. If you like instant games, our guide to online scratch cards explains how their odds work. If you do win a big prize, our gambling winnings tax calculator estimates the tax and compares the lump sum with the annuity. Whatever you play, set a limit first: our gambling budget calculator splits a budget into sessions, and our free gambling tracker shows what you really spend over a month.
How we checked this
- Powerball matrix, jackpot odds, any-prize odds, $2 price and draw days: Powerball prize chart, California Lottery and Wikipedia.
- Mega Millions matrix, jackpot odds, $5 price, draw days and the April 2025 change: Mega Millions, California Lottery and Public Gaming. Any-prize odds are given as 1 in 23 to 1 in 23.08 by different lotteries, so we say “about 1 in 23”.
- EuroMillions matrix, odds, any-prize odds, UK price and draw days: National Lottery game procedures and Wikipedia.
- EuroJackpot matrix, jackpot odds, €2 price and draw days: Lotto.de odds, Lotto.de rules and Wikipedia.
- UK Lotto two-round change, new tiers and any-prize odds: lottery.co.uk, Wikipedia, Public Gaming and Express & Star.
- The combination counts, the 10-year example and the average waits are our own maths, and the calculator uses the same formulas.
Last checked: 21 October 2026, when we tested the calculator against the published odds tables for Powerball, Mega Millions, EuroMillions and UK Lotto, and every figure matched. Gambling is for adults (18+) only. If it stops being fun, see our responsible gambling guide.
Lottery odds calculator FAQs
What are the odds of winning the lottery?
It depends on the game. With one line, the jackpot odds are 1 in 292,201,338 for Powerball, 1 in 290,472,336 for Mega Millions, 1 in 139,838,160 for EuroMillions and 1 in 22,528,738 for the UK Lotto.
Which lottery has the best odds?
Of the big games in our table, the UK Lotto has the best jackpot odds (1 in 22,528,738 per £2 line) and the best chance of any prize (1 in 4.9).
How do I calculate lottery odds?
Count the ways to pick the main numbers with C(n, k), then multiply by the ways to pick the bonus numbers. For Powerball that is 11,238,513 × 26 = 292,201,338. Our calculator does this for you, including every prize tier.
Does buying more tickets improve my odds?
Yes, but only in proportion: 10 different lines give you 10 chances instead of one. Even 100 Powerball lines in every draw for 10 years would give you only about a 0.05% chance of the jackpot.
Are some lottery numbers luckier than others?
No. Every combination has the same chance in every draw, and past draws don’t affect future ones. Picking less popular numbers can only mean fewer people to share a jackpot with.
