Massachusetts Lottery

Massachusetts Lottery's oldest jackpot game, has a new look starting tonight. The inaugural drawing for Megabucks Doubler is at 11:24 p.m. on WCVB-TV Channel 5; as with the original game, drawings will be held every Wednesday and Saturday night. "Megabucks Doubler promises to create a great deal of excitement with higher jackpots and significantly more winners," Executive Director Mark Cavanagh said. "The improved game represents a real opportunity for our players and a fun way to raise more revenue for our 351 cities and towns."

According to lottery officials, the $1 per bet price will remain the same. However, they said jackpots on average will be twice as high in the new game; starting jackpots will be increased from $400,000 to $500,000; one in 10 tickets will be a "Doubler ticket" that would double non-jackpot prizes; and lower-tier prizes for matching three, four or five numbers will all "dramatically increase."

Megabucks, which began in 1982, had sales of $40.5 million last fiscal year, or about 1 percent of total lottery sales. But sales for Megabucks dwindled over the years as other games gained in popularity. In 1986, for example, Megabucks sold more than $473 million in tickets, or about 43 percent of lottery sales, officials said. "Our players will enjoy this game more than the original," Cavanagh said. "The game preserves the best of the old and adds a bold freshness to our portfolio."