Mega Ball in South Africa: Cards, Lines and the 5x to 100x Mega Ball
Mega Ball is Evolution's live bingo-style game show, launched in April 2020. You buy cards, a machine in the studio draws 20 of its 51 numbered balls, and each card is paid by how many lines it completes. Then one or two Mega Balls are drawn, each with a multiplier from 5x to 100x for any card whose line it completes. At the top of Evolution's paytable, six or more lines and a 100x Mega Ball pay 999,999 to 1.
On this page
What Mega Ball looks like
Images: Evolution, official game page (games.evolution.com).
How Mega Ball works
Each Mega Ball card is a five-by-five grid of 24 different numbers in random order, with a free square in the centre that counts as marked from the start. One card value applies to all your cards, and each table shows its minimum and maximum in rand on its Bet Limits panel. Buttons buy 1, 10, 25 or 100 cards at a time.
How many cards you can buy in a round depends on the table: Evolution's page says "up to 200 per game round" in one paragraph and "up to 400 cards" in another, and each table's rules screen states its own maximum. While betting is open, REFRESH NUMBERS changes the numbers on a card.
When betting closes, the machine draws 20 of its 51 balls one by one. Matching numbers are marked for you, the card closest to a win moves to the top, and the numbers a card still needs are highlighted in gold with what they would pay. After the round, winning cards stay on screen, biggest win first.
A line is five marked squares across, down or corner to corner. Evolution's launch release says "Up to 12 lines per card are available", and a card has 12 such lines; the rules say "You can win up to 9 lines per card". Our arithmetic for why: at most 22 balls are drawn in a round, so at least two of a card's 24 numbers stay unmarked, and two gaps always break three lines or more, which leaves nine at most.
Mega Ball payouts by the number of lines
Evolution's rules print each pay as a range of odds. We show the two ends, which by our check are the pay without a multiplier and the pay with a 100x Mega Ball (each upper figure is the lower one's return times 100), and in the last column our arithmetic of what a R1 card returns, stake included. The rules also limit the total one round can pay; the table's Bet Limits panel gives the figure.
| Lines on one card | No multiplier | 100x Mega Ball | A R1 card returns (our sum) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 line | 1x (push) | 99 : 1 | R1 or R100 |
| 2 lines | 4 : 1 | 499 : 1 | R5 or R500 |
| 3 lines | 49 : 1 | 4,999 : 1 | R50 or R5,000 |
| 4 lines | 249 : 1 | 24,999 : 1 | R250 or R25,000 |
| 5 lines | 999 : 1 | 99,999 : 1 | R1,000 or R100,000 |
| 6 or more lines | 9,999 : 1 | 999,999 : 1 | R10,000 or R1,000,000 |
The Mega Ball round: one or two extra balls with a multiplier
After the twentieth ball come one or two Mega Ball rounds. Each starts with a multiplier from 5x to 100x on the studio's big screen, coloured by its size; then a physical ball is drawn, and its number is the Mega Ball.
If that number completes a line on your card, the pay of the whole card is multiplied: by our arithmetic from the table, a card whose second line is completed by a 10x Mega Ball returns R50 per R1 of card value instead of R5. If it completes nothing, it is marked as an ordinary number.
Two Mega Balls in one card's winning lines do not stack; the card takes the higher multiplier. The recent multipliers shown while betting is open are a record, not a forecast: Evolution's launch release calls them RNG-based and random.
How many cards to buy, and what it does to the return
Your stake is the number of cards times the card value: 100 cards at R1 cost R100 a round, our sum. Each card is paid on its own lines, so more cards mean more chances in one draw and more money riding on it.
The return does not improve with volume. Evolution's rules for the live game say: "The optimal theoretical Return to Player (RTP) percentage is 95.40%, based on 1 card." and "The RTP range is 94.61%-95.40%." The same rules file carries an alternative wording, "The optimal Return to Player (RTP) percentage is 96.12%, based on 1 card and minimum bet", with a range of 94.61%-96.12%, and a table's help screen shows one of the two. In both, the optimal figure is for a single card.
On tables that sell up to 400 cards, the rules add the chance of the top prize, six or more lines with exactly 100x: "At 1 card the chance is approximately one in 13.4 billion and at 400 cards it is approximately one in 33.4 million." By our arithmetic that is roughly 400 times the chance for 400 times the stake. No card count or staking pattern beats the house edge.
Rules worth knowing before you buy cards
- Repeat and undo. REPEAT buys the same number and value of cards as last round. UNDO removes the last packet added; holding it removes all your cards.
- A dropped connection does not void your cards. Bought cards remain valid and are settled in your absence, and the History window shows the result when you reconnect, which matters on a phone that loses signal mid-draw.
- A malfunction voids the round. The rules void the round and all its payouts, and return the bets.
Mega Ball RTP and volatility 📊
Evolution gives Mega Ball's return to player as 94.61% - 95.40% depending on the bet.
Top payout: 999,999 to 1 per card.
Paying for Mega Ball in rand
Mega Ball is in the lobby at 12 operators we list: all of them take cash vouchers and cards; 11 take Ozow; 7 take Capitec Pay.
The smallest first deposit for Mega Ball among them is R5, at Interbet and Tic Tac Bets.
Mega Ball winnings are paid by EFT to an account in your own name, after FICA.
Get FICA done first · How to deposit in rand · Every payment method
Is Mega Ball legal in South Africa? 📜
Mega Ball is a live dealer game, which licensed bookmakers carry under their provincial betting licences.
All 12 operators we list for Mega Ball hold a South African provincial licence.
Before you play with real money ⚠️
Set your Mega Ball budget and a deposit limit before the first round, not after a losing one. If it stops being fun, the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation helpline is free on 0800 006 008.
Pros, cons and verdict ⚖️
- Easy to follow: the draw marks and sorts your cards
- One card already gets the best RTP in Evolution's rules
- Bought cards are settled even if your connection drops
- One line without a Mega Ball multiplier only returns the card's stake
- More cards never lift the RTP above the one-card figure, and Evolution's range goes down to 94.61%
- The 999,999 to 1 top pay needs six or more lines and exactly 100x
- What one round can pay in total is limited by the table
Mega Ball is a bingo draw with a paytable that runs from a push on one line to 999,999 to 1. Read that paytable first: a card needs two lines to profit unless a Mega Ball completes its only line, and the headline pays need six or more lines and a 100x multiplier together. With the best return on a single card, more cards buy more action, not better value.
Mega Ball FAQ ❓
What is the most Mega Ball can pay?
Evolution's paytable tops out at 999,999 to 1 per card, for six or more lines with a 100x Mega Ball. With the stake back that is 1,000,000 times the card value, our arithmetic, and the 2020 launch release says "up to 1,000,000x their bet". The rules also limit what a whole round can pay; the table's Bet Limits panel shows that limit.
How many balls are drawn in Mega Ball?
Twenty of the 51 balls in the studio machine, one by one, after betting closes. Then one or two Mega Balls follow, each with a 5x to 100x multiplier. A Mega Ball that completes no line on a card counts there as an ordinary number.
Do more cards give a better RTP?
No. Evolution's rules give the optimal RTP for one card: "95.40%, based on 1 card", in a range of 94.61% to 95.40%. The alternative wording in the same rules gives 96.12% for one card at the minimum bet. More cards mean more chances in each draw at a higher cost per round.
Is Mega Ball the same as First Person Mega Ball?
No. First Person Mega Ball is Evolution's RNG version, launched alongside the live game in 2020, which you play at your own pace, with its own rules. This page and its operator list cover the live game with a presenter.
Where to play Mega Ball in South Africa
Licensed South African operators we have found carrying Mega Ball, each with its licence and our score, and the date where we saw the game in the lobby ourselves. Ordered by that score. How we score Offers checked September 2026.
Also carrying Mega Ball. Bonus, payment and payout terms for each are on its review.