Sticking to 1 through 31 for birthdays does not lower your chance of matching the draw, because every set of five numbers from 47 is equally likely. It does raise the chance of splitting a jackpot, since 32 through 47 get chosen far less often and a low-number winning line tends to arrive with company.
The game at a glance
5 of 47 + Mega
Wed · Sat
United States
1 in 41,416,353
The same for every possible combination, including this one.
All divisions →
1 of 27
Mega: you pick it yourself, drawn from a separate pool.
18+
Must be 18+ to play SuperLotto Plus in California.
SuperLotto Plus, in brief
SuperLotto Plus is the California State Lottery's own jackpot game, funded and drawn inside California rather than shared with a multi-state group. One play costs $1 and asks you to choose five numbers from 1 to 47, then one Mega number from 1 to 27. The Mega comes out of a second machine with its own set of balls, so it can land on a number already showing among the main five.
Draws are held Wednesday and Saturday nights at 7:57 p.m. Pacific, after entry closes at 7:45 p.m. The jackpot starts at $7 million and climbs every draw that nobody matches all five numbers plus the Mega. A jackpot winner is paid in 30 graduated annual instalments unless they ask for the Cash Option, which has to be claimed within 60 days of the Lottery authorising payment.
Nothing on the ticket is a fixed amount. California pays all nine tiers pari-mutuel, dividing a set share of ticket sales among the winners in each category, so the published figures move draw to draw. Matching three numbers has been paying around $9 to $11 lately, and the smallest prize, for hitting the Mega on its own, sits near the dollar a play costs.
Prize tiers
5 numbers + MegaJackpot
The jackpot, starting at $7 million and split evenly when more than one ticket matches
5 numbers, no Mega
A large pari-mutuel prize, often tens of thousands, that shrinks as more tickets share it
4 numbers + Mega
A four-figure pari-mutuel prize
4 numbers, no Mega
A pari-mutuel prize usually near a hundred dollars
3 numbers + Mega
A modest pari-mutuel prize, typically a few tens of dollars
3 numbers, no Mega
A small pari-mutuel prize hovering around ten dollars
2 numbers + Mega
A small pari-mutuel prize, close to the tier above it
1 number + Mega
A dollar or two, set by how that draw's pool divides
Mega only
The smallest prize, usually about what one play costs
Where SuperLotto Plus came from
From a 6 of 49 draw to SuperLotto
The California State Lottery opened for business in October 1985, selling Scratchers first. A weekly draw game followed on 14 October 1986, built as a straight 6 of 49 in the style of the Canadian game it was modelled on. The main pool later widened to 51 numbers and the draw picked up the SuperLotto name, still a single-pool game where every ball came from the same machine.
The Mega number arrives
That changed in June 2000. The lottery split the draw in two, cutting the main pool back to 47 numbers and adding a Mega number pulled from a separate set of 27. The rebuilt game took the SuperLotto Plus name it still carries. Stretching the top-tier odds to 1 in 41,416,353 let jackpots roll higher before anyone hit them, and the matrix has not moved since.
Two draws a week, nine ways to win
Wednesday and Saturday have been the draw nights throughout. The nine winning combinations run from all five numbers plus the Mega down to the Mega on its own, which is why roughly one ticket in 23 collects something. Recent draws have produced well over 100,000 winning tickets apiece, almost all of them in the bottom three tiers, where the payout is a dollar or two.
Picking numbers, honestly
The Mega is drawn from its own 27-ball pool, not from the 47 the main numbers come from. That means a Mega of 12 can turn up in the same draw as a main number 12, and choosing a Mega you have already used among your five costs you nothing at all.
A record jackpot does not shorten the odds. The matrix stays at 1 in 41,416,353 whatever the sign at the counter says. What a big jackpot does change is the crowd. More tickets sold raises the chance the winner has to share, and it spreads the pari-mutuel tiers below the top across more people.
SuperLotto Plus — frequently asked
A sixth ball drawn from its own pool of 27. You pick it yourself, and it sets which prize tier your ticket lands in.
The Mega number on its own pays the smallest prize. Below that, two main numbers without the Mega wins nothing, so three main numbers is the shortest route to a prize that ignores the Mega entirely.
No, and this sets the game apart from Powerball and Mega Millions. All nine tiers are pari-mutuel in California, so each prize is a share of that draw's pool. Match four numbers on a quiet Wednesday and you may collect less than someone who matched four on a busy Saturday.
As 30 graduated annual instalments by default. A winner who prefers a single payment must choose the Cash Option within 60 days of the Lottery authorising payment, and that figure is the current cash value of the annuity rather than the advertised total.
No. Tickets are sold in person at licensed retailers inside the state, and the California Lottery does not sell draw-game entries through its website.