New national game at least a year away
When dozens of states start selling both Powerball and Mega Millions lottery tickets for the first time ever, winners may take home jackpots that aren't so mega.
As part of a deal announced last October, the combined sales begin Jan. 31 in 23 of the 31 states and Washington D.C. where Powerball is currently offered, according to Tom Shaheen, president of the Multi-State Lottery Association that operates Powerball. The two different lottery systems have not been sold in the same state before.
But with all the addition players, Shaheen expects the jackpots to fill up quickly, resulting in more winners but lighter takes.
"With more people playing, you have a better chance of someone winning earlier," he said. "There will probably be more jackpot winners over the course of the year, because you've got more players and more number combinations. That's what players keep saying: They want more winners."
As a result, there will be fewer jackpots as high as $300 million, and more of them in the $100 million to $150 million range, according to Shaheen.
Where to buy
The following Powerball states will begin offering Mega Millions tickets at the end of the month: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
New York lottery spokeswoman Jennifer Givner said her state, which sells Mega Millions tickets, will also sell Powerball tickets on Jan. 31. Givner said she could not speak for other unidentified Mega Millions states that will sell Powerball tickets.
Lottery commission representatives in California and Ohio, both Mega Millions states, said they will not be participating in the Powerball cross-over on Jan. 31, but they didn't rule out joining late on.
"We're right in the middle of analyzing whether it would be a good idea to join Powerball," said California lottery spokesman Bill Ainsworth. He said that California already offers a second lottery in addition to Mega Millions, called SuperLotto Plus.
Ohio Lottery spokeswoman Marie Kilbane Seckers said the potential overlap with Powerball is still awaiting approval from the governor and the lottery commissioners.
The return of gigantic payouts
Players with eyes on the larger prize will eventually be able to participate in a national lottery with jackpots that could reach $500 million, Shaheen said.
Tickets for that lottery would cost $2 or $5 each, and would not be available until December or the beginning of 2011.
The current jackpot for Mega Millions is $60 million, with a draw date of Jan. 12. Powerball's current jackpot is $30 million with a draw date of Jan. 13.
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Thanks for posting this article! I wasnt aware of the states that are going to commence the addition of the Large jackpot games.
Its great if you are into choosing a game . I just am a dedicated Powerball player since that is how amy resident state started out. Will be nice to play mega from time to time though and not have to go one state over.... I fear though that my state (PA) will start the taxing of these wins since those will be high revenue for them then....they already are doing so over the gaming (casinos)....
"Lottery commission representatives in California and Ohio, both Mega Millions states, said they will not be participating in the Powerball cross-over on Jan. 31"
I knew it. California wouldn't of course.
I don't care about winning $100 Million+ jackpots to be honest. $50-$60 million is big enough to me.
Me, either. I would happily take it, if I won it, tho. lol
I would rather see 10 people get $10 million each, any day. Heck, I honestly wish powerball was $20 or $30 million every draw, and someone won it everytime. Instead of one person being *filthy* rich, I'd like to see a bunch of people "well off". I feel like I'd have a better chance to be one of them, and a lot of other people that NEED it, too.
Are they leading up to a matrix increase again?????
Jackpot now are the results of the number of tickets sold and states contributing 30% of sales to the jackpot. Unless that formula changes, I don't see why jackpots should be any smaller, in fact they should continue to roll to the same size, just quicker and more often. Facts are with more states participating, the starting jackpot should increase too.
I wish Ohio would sell powerball. I like to play both but have to drive across state lines to do it. Save my gas Ohio.
Same here. Too me, it doesn't matter what size the jackpot is. It could be 20 million or 300 million for all I care, I just want to win!
I'm sure they will join later. I bet when California and Ohio see that the other states have increased their profits, they will change their mind.
That's what you say now that you've never won any lottery jackpot, but if won a $20M jackpot the next drawing after a $300M one had just been won you might be disappointed.
Reason being that if there are more tickets sold in a given time period it is more likely that there will be a winner, rather than have the jackpot roll over.
Thats soooooo True ladyMylenda.
Even If Powerball winners won something like 2 or 3million it would be life changing. I mean depending on your age, if you won lets say 5 mill, you could even retire. Even so, it would be life changing for anyone. Think about it, paying off your house 20 years early (life changing) Putting you kids through college effortlessly (life changing) Even putting it in that bank as your own personal retirment savings is life changing because you can feel safe knowing that you don't have to work until your;re 70 or 80. Since Mega Millions and I have issues, I would love to play Powerball but California killed my dreams on that one. I try to never play Mega: i make my husband play that one cause he seems to have better luck with it. But if Powerball came to Calif, I would not stop playing SLP and definately not Fantasy five, I would just add Powerball to it. Maybe not Five lines but A single line for every draw. $2 is not much but multipe that by thousands of people and it adds up.
I see where this is going.We are going to have a national lottery very soon.
You make a good point, these games do seem to be won after their jackpots roll to a value that attracts a certain number of ticket buyers. With the additional states their jackpots won't need to be that high to attract that certain number of ticket buyers.