With no winner last week, the jackpot for the Mega Millions lottery has risen to $54 million ahead of tonight’s drawing.

But buying a chance to win that sort of life-changing windfall will soon cost you more. Starting with the April 8 drawing, the cost of a ticket will be $5, more than double the previous $2 fee. The change is only the second price increase since the first Mega Millions ticket was sold in 2002 and the first change since the current prize structure was adopted in 2017.

With the increased ticket cost comes higher minimum prizes, rising to $10 on a winning ticket from the previous $2. The minimum starting jackpot has also risen from $20 million to $50 million with a similar boost down all winning tiers.

 “Players who had won $2 in the old game will now take home $10, $15, $20, $25 or $50 under this game,” said Joshua Johnston, Lead Director of the Mega Millions Consortium. Those who had won $500 under the old rules will now take home $1,000; $1,500; $2,000; $2,500 or $5,000 in this new game. Non-jackpot prizes at every level are going up by 2X to 10X.”

Other changes include:

• Overall odds to win any prize have improved from 1 in 24 to 1 in 23 due to the removal of one gold Mega Ball from the game.
• Odds to win the jackpot – while still astronomical – have improved. It’s now 1 in 290 million as opposed to one in 302 million due to the change from 25 Mega Balls to 24.
• Every non-jackpot winning card will see the base prize amount automatically increased by as much as 10 times due to an automatic multiplier. Prizes in the new game will range from $10 to $10 million vs. the $2 to $1 million in the current game.

Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states – Alabama isn’t among them – and drawings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10 p.m. CT.