History Of Mega Sena:
Pairs of numbered balls were picked randomly from two spinning cages. Together the balls created a 2 digit number from 01 up to 60. The first cage contained the balls for the first digit and ranges from 0 – 5. The second cage contained the balls for the second digit and ranges from 0 – 9. When all 6 unique 2 digit numbers were drawn, the draw was finished.
Since draw No. 1140 this complex drawing process has been streamlined. The balls are now selected from a single spinning globe. Each segment of 10 balls is coloured differently from the rest, with a total of 6 colours across all the balls.
Number selection for the Mega Sena is very simple. Select 6 unique numbers out of a possible 60. Match 6 chosen numbers to the numbers drawn and you win the jackpot.
Mega Sena Jackpots And Mega Da Virada:
Jackpots in this lottery game can reach impressive numbers, as seen in 1999 where a winner from Salvador walked away with an impressive R$64.9 million. Another notable win took place in July 2008 when two winning tickets matched the results to equally split the top prize of R$53.1 million.
The biggest Mega Sena jackpot was won by one single entry from the capital, Brasília, who took 205 million Reais home in November 2015.
This Brazilian lottery is drawn twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8:30pm BRT. The draw itself is held in a truck that travels all over Brazil in a different city for every draw which adds to the excitement.
Mega Sena draws are shown on Brazilian TV in the show called 'Momento da Sorte' (Lucky moment).
Mega Sena Prize Tiers:Mega Sena only pays out prizes for the top 3 prize tiers. The prize value for each tier is based on a percentage value of the total prize fund (46% of the total lottery earnings).
Match 6 balls – 35% of prize fundMatch 5 balls – 19% of prize fundMatch 4 balls – 19% of prize fund
The remaining funds accumulate for special drawings including Mega Da Virada which is held on New Year's Eve every year. It is very popular with Brazilians due to the large jackpots ( R$194.3 Million in 2010).