Cash was refering to my home state, Louisiana, who along with arizona and iowa are the only 21+ states in the nation.

I was hoping they would change long before California joined. Changes are needed to make big jackpots happen. If people don't like the changes they can stick to their computer drawn small jackpot games. I just want my increadibly bad shot at some big bucks. Even if the odds were dropped to 100 million to one people just don't realize how bad those odds are. Even pick 4 has bad odds if you play for a straight. These are lotteries we are talking about here. If your doctor gave you the same odds as a pick 4 game after a diagnosis then I'd worry otherwise it's a game.

$250,000 is a very nice second tier prize

... the lottery never fails to surprise!

yep the higher second prizes will get people playing regular again....

Quote: Originally posted by golotto on May 1, 2005

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$250,000 is a very nice second tier prize

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  Mega Millions will have faster rollovers when California joins.  Despite Powerball increasing their matrix as well, I doubt they will see faster rollovers as well unless they add every state that becomes new to the lottery game.

Faster jackpot turnover does not mean smaller jackpots.  When you add 25 million people to the mix the jackpot will simply climb faster and be won sooner hence more people becoming fabulously wealthy.  Think about it... it will only take 7 draws to get the pot up to $100 Million instead of 10 draws to get it there.  If you leave the odds alone you will get more winners, but roughly the same jackpot sizes.  This is simple mathematics.  Raising the odds to 175 million to 1 will generate obscene jackpots that will reach more than $400 million at some point and possibly into the $500+ millions.  But you will hardly ever see a winner out of a much larger pool of players.  This is a crappy design in my opinion.  Someone will win it, dventually, it just won't be you.  All I ask is that someone create a midrange option for people like me.  Right now my only choices are a small lottery of 13 million to 1 odds versus a gigantic lottery of 175 million to 1.  What about those of us who desire odds somewhere in the 50-100 million to 1 range?  Those odds can generate pots up to $100-150 million which is more than enough for most anyone.  The current lottery associations won't create such a game because they know it will pull too many players away from the stupid powerball and mega millions games and render them insolvent.  Do yourselves a favor when playing the mega lotteries, buy 1-2 tickets per draw and quit there.  Buying more than that is a total waste, since it does not increase your chances of winning by anything even close to a significant amount.  In others words... play, don't be played.

I'm excited about the second prize changing from $175,000 to $250,000!!! $75,000 more is a good amount.

Oh and the number field for the mega ball is decreasing. Interesting.

MM was correct in decreasing the number of Mega Balls.

Yes, they descrease the number of mega balls and raise the number of white ball so you have less of a chance of matching the five white.

I like the new format.

a better chance of winning something is better than winning nothing......

i like both of powerball and mega millions new formats.....it was time for changes to happen.