Per capita lottery spending has doubled since 1995

The Mega Millions jackpot has hit “uncharted territory” with a grand prize of $1.6 billion up for grabs at Tuesday’s drawing.

There’s a simple explanation for this: In recent years, lottery administrators have tweaked the odds of big name drawings like Power Ball and Mega Millions, making them more difficult to win. That all but guarantees bigger, headline-grabbing jackpots, hence the huge ticket sales.