MO Millions: Count the Bulls-Eye Inside Your Matching Numbers

MO Millions has six winning numbers, and one of those six is designated the Bulls-Eye. That wording matters when you read the chart: five matches including the Bulls-Eye remain five matches. You have not found a sixth number or completed the jackpot set.

The game can also put the same purchased selection into a second drawing through Double Play. That drawing has its own result and Bulls-Eye, so a good check needs more than one glance at the familiar numbers. Here is how to keep the parts straight.

Six selections, with no extra Bulls-Eye choice

A basic $2 play uses six different numbers from 1 through 42. Choose your own selection or request Quick Pick. The lottery designates one of the six winning numbers as the Bulls-Eye in each drawing; you do not select a seventh number for it.

For example, 3, 11, 19, 27, 35 and 42 is a valid selection. Having 42 at the end of a sorted line does not nominate it as the Bulls-Eye. Look for the designation in the official result rather than guessing from the largest number or the way a list is arranged.

Bulls-Eye is included in the basic purchase. Double Play and EZ Match are optional additions at $1 each per play. One play with either option costs $3; one with both costs $4. Multiple selected boards increase the total accordingly.

Read the chart’s plus sign carefully

The main-draw chart separates five matches including Bulls-Eye at $1,500 from five without it at $750. Four matches pay $50 including it or $25 without it; three pay $6 including it or $3 without it. Two matches including Bulls-Eye pay $2.

In each of those comparisons, Bulls-Eye is a member of the matching group. It is not an additional seventh ball sitting outside the six-number result. A result with two matches but no Bulls-Eye does not qualify for the two-with-Bulls-Eye category.

This is worth establishing before doing any dollar arithmetic. Count how many of your selections appear in the six winning numbers, then ask whether the designated Bulls-Eye is among those matches. Read the applicable row only after answering both questions.

A complete example across the two drawings

Take the example selection 3, 11, 19, 27, 35 and 42. Suppose the main result is 3, 11, 19, 27, 35 and 40, with 19 as Bulls-Eye.

Your selection has five matches and includes 19. The standard main-draw category is therefore $1,500. It is not the jackpot: 42 missed, and 40 was needed for the complete set. Calling the result “five plus one” would hide that missing sixth match.

Now suppose you bought Double Play and its result is 3, 11, 19, 24, 30 and 41, with 41 as Bulls-Eye. Against this second result, your selection has three matches and misses Bulls-Eye. The published Double Play chart awards $5 for that category.

Under those hypothetical results and the standard charts, the two drawing awards total $1,505. Without a purchased Double Play entry, only the main-draw award would apply. The 19 designated in the first result cannot be carried across as the second drawing’s Bulls-Eye.

Double Play uses its own prize amounts

Double Play is another drawing using the same selected set, not a multiplier of the main result. Its six-match top award is $50,000, while the main game has a rolling jackpot.

The smaller Double Play chart pays $2,000 for five matches including Bulls-Eye and $1,000 without it. Four matches pay $70 including Bulls-Eye or $35 without it; three pay $10 including it or $5 without it. Two including Bulls-Eye pay $3.

Use the correct column as well as the correct result. Even an accurate match count can lead to the wrong amount if a player reads the main-game column for a Double Play outcome. An actual ticket must still pass the lottery’s validation process.

EZ Match is a printed instant result

EZ Match prints six instant numbers with associated amounts below the purchased MO Millions selection. Compare them with the corresponding selected numbers, regardless of order. Matching instant numbers win the amounts printed beside them.

Those instant numbers do not expand either drawing’s winning set. A number missing from the main result cannot be supplied from the instant panel to create another main match, and the printed instant prize is not determined by a later Bulls-Eye designation.

The official rules say an early EZ Match redemption prints an exchange ticket for the upcoming drawing. Check and retain that ticket before leaving. For entries covering several dates, keep track of every outstanding drawing after redeeming an earlier award.

The jackpot odds do not require another selected ball

There are 5,245,786 possible six-number sets from 42. One particular set therefore has a six-match probability of 1 in 5,245,786 in a drawing. Do not multiply that number by another 42 to account for a separately selected Bulls-Eye: that extra selection does not exist.

The operator lists overall prize odds of approximately 1 in 11.74 per basic $2 play. That includes the $2 category and therefore does not describe the probability of making a profit or hitting the jackpot.

MO Millions is scheduled on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with Double Play following the main drawing. Check the ticket’s covered dates and purchased options. For a different Missouri format, see Show Me Cash or the Missouri directory. Its five-number selection and prize chart should remain separate from the six-number, Bulls-Eye calculations explained here.