Last day to bet on the Mega da Virada lottery with an estimated prize of R$ 1 billion.

The Mega da Virada 2025, with an estimated prize of R$ 1 billion, closes its bets at 20 pm this Wednesday (31). The draw will take place at 22 pm at Espaço da Sorte, on Avenida Paulista, in São Paulo. Those interested can place their bets at any lottery outlet in Brazil, through the CAIXA Lotteries Portal, the app or CAIXA Internet Banking. The prize will be a record value for a lottery prize in South America.

The minimum bet to participate is R$ 6,00, corresponding to a simple bet of six numbers. A new feature this year allows the purchase of shares in online group bets through the CAIXA Lotteries Portal and app until 20:30 pm on the 31st, an exceptional time exclusively for online group bets.

Since December 21st, all bets in the Mega-Sena lottery have been exclusively directed towards the Mega da Virada (New Year's Mega-Sena). The draw will be broadcast live on CAIXA's YouTube channel and on CAIXA Lotteries' Facebook page.

If a single bettor wins the main prize and invests the amount in a CAIXA savings account, the return in the first month will reach approximately R$ 6,6 million. Alternatively, the amount would be enough to buy 10 popular electric cars, considering an average value of R$ 100 per vehicle.

Unlike regular lotteries, the Mega da Virada prize does not accumulate. If there are no winners in the main prize category (six numbers), the prize will be divided among those who matched five numbers in the second category, and so on.

The mathematics behind the Mega da Virada lottery presents a challenging scenario for bettors. When choosing six numbers from the 60 available, the player faces 50.063.860 possible combinations. In practice, this represents a probability of only one in 50.063.860, or approximately 0,000001997%, of hitting all the numbers with a single ticket.

To put this probability into context, events considered rare in everyday life are statistically more likely than winning the Mega-Sena lottery. The chance of someone being struck by lightning is estimated at one in a million, making this natural phenomenon 50 times more likely than correctly guessing all six numbers with a single bet.

Shark attacks also serve as a comparative parameter. The probability of a person being bitten by a shark when entering the sea is calculated at one in 10 million – still five times greater than the chance of winning the Mega-Sena lottery. In places like the beaches of Boa Viagem, in Recife, and Piedade, in Jaboatão dos Guararapes, which lead the Brazilian ranking of shark attacks, bathers face greater risks than lottery bettors.

Pope Leo XIV recently expressed concern, warning of the "sharp increase" in the "plague" of gambling, according to a statement released by the international press. This statement coincides with the peak period for Mega da Virada lottery bets in Brazil, when millions of people dream of starting 2026 as new billionaires.

To increase the chances of winning by participating in a group, the CAIXA Group Bet is an alternative. Bettors can purchase group bets at physical lottery outlets, where an additional service fee may be charged, or buy them through CAIXA's official electronic channels. In the Mega da Virada (New Year's Mega-Sena), it is possible to create a group bet with a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 100 shares, with up to 10 bets per receipt.

The number 10 stands out in the Mega da Virada lottery draws. In the 16 editions held since 2009, when CAIXA created this special lottery modality, this number has appeared five times in the results, establishing itself as the most frequent in the history of the contest, although it has not been drawn since 2022.

Following the ranking of most frequently drawn numbers, the numbers 5 and 33 share second place, having been drawn four times each. According to information from CAIXA, all balls used in the draws have identical characteristics, being made of solid rubber weighing 66 grams and with a diameter of 50 millimeters.

Among the numbers that frequently appear in the Mega da Virada lottery draws, eight numbers have been drawn three times each: 03, 17, 20, 34, 36, 41, 56, and 58. There are also 22 different numbers that have appeared twice, including 01, 02, 04, 11, 12, 18, 22, 24, 29, 32, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 46, 50, 51, 53, 55, and 57.

The odds of winning vary depending on the number of numbers bet. In the simple option, with six numbers, the probability is one in more than 50 million. In the maximum bet, with 20 numbers, the odds rise to one in 1.292, according to CAIXA data, but the ticket price also increases significantly, potentially reaching R$ 232.560.

São Paulo leads the ranking of cities with the highest number of winners in the history of the Mega da Virada lottery, totaling 12 winning bets. Brasília follows with ten winners, and Rio de Janeiro with five winning bets. A curious case occurred in 2018, when three of the 52 winning bets that year were placed at two lottery outlets in Euclides da Cunha, a municipality in Bahia with approximately 61 inhabitants.

A group of bettors from Cachoeira Dourada, a municipality located in southern Goiás, mobilized R$ 13 million in bets for the 2025 Mega da Virada lottery. Sergeant Glaciel de Andrade, the organizer of the initiative, structured three distinct group bets with the goal of correctly guessing the six numbers in the special CAIXA Lottery draw.

Andrade has been coordinating betting pools for approximately 13 years. At the beginning of his activities as an organizer, the group had about 50 participants, most of whom were military police officers. For this year's competition, he expanded the operation, creating three separate groups, each with its own betting pool.

To date, 57 games have been played, each with 20 numbers, at an individual cost of R$ 232,5. To participate in the group bets, those interested need to invest considerable amounts. In the group bet called "Jogo Milhão" (Millionaire Game), the share costs R$ 2.280, while in the "Super Bolão" (Super Group Bet) the value is R$ 1.956, and in the "Amigos Sargento Glaciel" (Friends of Sergeant Glaciel) the investment is R$ 900.

The organizer explained that each group has a different number of participants, including people from various Brazilian states and even residents abroad. To make payment of the fees feasible, an installment system was implemented throughout the year. “We start paying in installments at the beginning of the year. We have fees of R$ 160 and R$ 190. We pay monthly, and by the end of the year everything is paid off,” Andrade reported.

Throughout their 13-year history of betting on lotteries, the group led by Sergeant Glaciel has accumulated approximately R$ 15 million in prizes. In last year's Mega da Virada lottery draw, they correctly guessed 10 numbers (five correct numbers) and 222 numbers (four correct numbers), resulting in a prize of R$ 1,2 million.

In the ranking by states, São Paulo occupies first place with 32 winning tickets since the contest's creation in 2009. Minas Gerais appears in second place with 14 winners, followed by Bahia with 13, Rio de Janeiro with 11, and Paraná closing the top 5 with 10 winning bets.

According to Andrade, in the last six years, his group has won between 14 and 15 five-number prizes in the Mega da Virada lottery alone. In addition to the results in this special draw, the bettors have also won in other lottery games, such as the Lotofácil da Independência this year, where they won R$ 4,9 million.

The participants in the Goiás lottery pool expect that, if all six numbers are correctly guessed, each member could receive between R$ 1 million and R$ 3 million. The Mega da Virada draw will take place on the evening of December 31st, broadcast live on CAIXA's YouTube channel at 22 PM, directly from Espaço da Sorte, located on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo.

An alternative for those who don't want to choose their own numbers is the "Surpresinha" (Quick Pick), a mode in which the system automatically selects the numbers. Bettors can also participate through group bets, either by forming a group on the betting slip itself or by purchasing shares in group bets organized by lottery retailers, which may charge an additional service fee of up to 35% on the share value.

The billion-dollar prize is primarily made up of the revenue from bets on the special draw itself, as well as amounts accumulated throughout the year in other draws held by CAIXA. After the draw, the winning numbers and the prize distribution are available on the federal institution's website, with a 90-day period for claiming the prize money.

Quantity of numbers	Number of Bets	Minimum number of shares for a pool.	Maximum number of shares for a pool.	Minimum Quota Value	Minimum Bolão Value	Maximum Bolão Value	Maximum number of games on the receipt
6	1	2	8	7,00 BRL	18,00 BRL	60,00 BRL	10
7	7	2	50	8,00 BRL	42,00 BRL	420,00 BRL	10
8	28	2	100	8,00 BRL	168,00 BRL	1.680,00 BRL	10
9	84	2	100	8,00 BRL	504,00 BRL	5.040,00 BRL	10
10	210	2	100	12,60 BRL	1.260,00 BRL	12.600,00 BRL	10
11	462	2	100	27,72 BRL	2.772,00 BRL	27.720,00 BRL	10
12	924	2	100	55,44 BRL	5.544,00 BRL	55.440,00 BRL	10
13	1.716	2	100	102,96 BRL	10.296,00 BRL	102.960,00 BRL	10
14	3.003	2	100	180,18 BRL	18.018,00 BRL	180.180,00 BRL	10
15	5.005	2	100	300,30 BRL	30.030,00 BRL	210.210,00 BRL	7
16	8.008	2	100	480,48 BRL	48.048,00 BRL	192.192,00 BRL	4
17	12.376	2	100	742,56 BRL	74.256,00 BRL	222.768,00 BRL	3
18	18.564	2	100	1.113,84 BRL	111.384,00 BRL	222.768,00 BRL	2
19	27.132	2	100	1.627,92 BRL	162.792,00 BRL	162.792,00 BRL	1
20	38.760	2	100	2.325,60 BRL	232.560,00 BRL	232.560,00 BRL	1

 

Mega-Sena has already 'repeated' its results and had sequential numbers; see the curiosities.