Coronavirus strikes again
Today the Powerball Product Group announced it is making changes to the multi-state lottery game's jackpot due to sagging sales caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Following the next grand prize win, Powerball's starting jackpot will reset to a guaranteed $20 million (annuity) with minimum roll increases of $2 million between drawings.
Previously the starting point was $40 million, with guaranteed $10 million increases between drawings that did not produce a jackpot winner.
"Powerball players in many U.S. lottery jurisdictions are under shelter-in-place orders or recommendations from their governors or mayors, which has affected normal consumer behaviors," Bishop Woosley, director of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, said. "Just like other enterprises around the world that are making adjustments, the lottery industry is making proactive changes to continue to offer the world's premier lottery product."
Tonight's advertised jackpot is a guaranteed $150 million; $114.8 million cash value. If the jackpot is won in tonight's drawing, the jackpot will reset to a guaranteed $20 million (annuity) for the Saturday, March 28 drawing with minimum jackpot roll increases of $2 million between drawings. If the jackpot is not won tonight, then the jackpot will grow to an estimated $160 million (annuity).
Powerball tickets are $2 per play. Drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 9:59 p.m.
😂😂😂😂😂
LOL
what is Mega Millions waiting for ?
Is that the way you gonna play huh? Well, how about dropping it to $1 a line as well. Or $2 a line, but pick from 50 balls from one barrel & 10 mega balls. Fair is fair.
I agree, you want to start at a smaller amount but want $2. I hope both lotteries reach a billion by May
MM has went up only 6 million. I'd imagine PB would do the same.
It won't just be reduced sales... there is also the matter of how much cash they have to front up with for those $10m increases or $20m start...
The ratio of cash value to announced jackpot has hit 80% (three draws ago.. Jackpot $120m cash $96.1m -- 80.8% of jackpot.)
Meanwhile, the Jan 13, 2016 draw.. jackpot of $1,586.4 million.. cash value $983.5m is a rate of 62% (@62% $96.1m cash would dictate a jackpot of $155m)
@62% $40m start needs cash of $24.8m
@80.8% $40m start needs cash of $32.32 ($7.52m more)
Would love to see it hit the billion mark ... but highly unlikely by May
but maybe by the later part of July at the rate things are going
Sales are probably down because it's so freaking hard to win a prize.
I must admit the recent cash payout has been generous.
Cash value is based off the 30 Year treasury rate. Right now the 30 year rate is near historic lows. That is why the cash value is so high.
How so ?
I thought cash value is based on the cash on hand after expenses of the game
They have been making the games worse and worse and they had been looking for a convenient excuse to make them worse yet...bingo they got lucky and found one.
Powerball and MegaMillion have not been good for at least 5 to 7 years.
Next step is for them to find a way to get a multi-trillion dollar jackpot that nobody wins except once every 30 years.
Lower jackpots for an impossible odds game will surely help sell more tickets.
It would interesting to see what happens after the COVID crisis is over. I haven't bought a powerball ticket in 6 or 7 weeks so it won't change my habits anyway.
Ain't that the truth!
I too have stopped buying tickets for these games. Right now I'm going to wait until April to see if my state runs the planned raffle. If so I will buy tickets for that. But I don't know when I will go back to playing PB and MM.
"making changes to the multi-state lottery game's jackpot due to sagging sales"
How will lowering the jackpot create better sales?
Just wondering.
So instead of decreasing the ticket price or improving the odds, they've opted to make the jackpot less appealing to John Q Public. Yeah, makes perfect sense
Self isolation. It might be better to not play at all. Don't risk the lives of your household for non-winning lottery tickets, be ultra safe.
Stay home people!
And this change certainly didn't entice me to buy a ticket....lol
cash value is (I assume) based on "cash on hand".
The annuity value (aka "the jackpot") is what they can buy with the cash value.
My records seem to indicate that the cash value is actually increasing (last cycle (when the jackpot got above $160m) next is worth $171m, with a cash value of $116.2m...
$116.2m is less than the current ($160m jackpot) cash value of $122.4m.
In last night's Power Ball drawing there were no jackpot winners, so the annuity amount does go to $160 mil.
There were two tickets that matched 5 of 5 without the PB # for a $1 mil prize and two tickets that added the Powerplay and won $2 mil.
The two tickets without the Powerplay were sold in Colorado and the two with the Powerplay were sold in Oregon.
I wonder if each of the two tickets were purchased by the same person.
Some people buy the same set of numbers twice so if there are multiple winners they would receive two shares of the jackpot.
Stay safe people!
I believe the Power ball /Mega millions should be replaced' for a Yearly Raffle, like EL Gordo(The fat one$$)...with a guaranteed 400,000 winners.
Im not longer interested in playing the Powerball' until they reduced the wager price to $1 buck per line.
One from Georgia with powerplay, and one from Oregon with powerplay.
On the NYS Lottery website https://nylottery.ny.gov/powerball/past-winning-numbers it shows:
DRAWING RESULTS
DATE
WINNING NUMBERS
POWERBALL
POWER PLAY
03/25/2020
05-09-27-39-42
16
X2
POWERBALL + NO POWERPLAY
0 winners of $150 Million.
2 second-prize winners of $1 Million. Winning tickets sold in CO.
PRIZE LEVEL
NUMBERS MATCHED
PRIZE
NY WINNERS
POWERBALL + POWERPLAY
2 second-prize winners of $2 Million. Winning tickets sold in OR.
PRIZE LEVEL
NUMBERS MATCHED
PRIZE
NY WINNERS
Hmmmmm.
I had just checked on USAMega.
It's possible the NYS Lottery site is wrong. I'll go with the results on https://www.usamega.com/
Thanks RC
YW!
Good luck with whatever game you play.
Might be time to start playing Lotto America again,once the PB jackpot has been won...Only $1 a pick..... Odds are about the same as the TX lottery.....
It won't. It's like selling a dozen donuts which comes with only 8 to make up for the slow business. Stupid!
Notice how the Mega millions jackpot has really slowed down?
Am thinking two things: Folks have lottery fatigue and #2 this will drive sales down even further. How about changing the odds a bit to help out your players?
Hopefully lack of income from lottery during this time will encourage more states to sell Mega and Powerball online, to residents within their state. If Mass can do it, so can the rest of the states.
I think it would be irresponsible to do something that would encourage people to leave their homes just to buy a lottery ticket. Those that are buying anyway will pick up their tickets during a grocery and supplies run.
If going out just to buy PB or MM tickets is a number one priority, those people need help.
If they changed it tomorrow to better odds, how many of us wouldn't be tempted to dash out and buy a few?
The KY Lottery paid out less than $1 million when 888 was drawn today. Triples are close to or usually sold out. It looks like going out to play lottery games is not a priority right now. Hopefully all the drawn games will be available Online. It sure would help during this crisis for those needing a fix.
That is a subscription service and can only play one set of #'s for during of your ticket, plus no Powerplay or Megaplier is ever available. Out of staters can play Megabucks Doubler, but as I stated months ago they outsourced this and really soak out of staters. Since I'm from there could have folks buy them for me but though with feeding their coffers!
Other states, like Kentucky, have on-line sales of a host of tickets including the aforementioned ones without the burden of subscription services for folks like me who may want to change their numbers.
Remember the deal the KLC had with retailers? They would not sell pick 3 or pick 4 to appease the retailers.
Personally I said the eff bomb when I read about PB changes and going to try, though may fail, to curb buying them. Cashball 225 is what I've been playing everyday now and can play here or @ the end of my short street!
Good luck Stack47.
Good to know other states have it set up so well. Hopefully others follow suit. If lack of sales due to something beyond our control doesn't induce them to sell online, I don't know what will.
The Powerball and Megamillions have essentially become worthless games that I only play just on the off chance I might actually win. It's almost impossible to win even the lowest prize, truly a rare occasion. When it was the old game with lower numbers and only cost $1, you could win something fairly often, now you can count on one hand when you get some money back from them. Luck for Life costs the same but has much better lower prizes and odds. If you are going to halve the top prize you should also halve the ticket cost because all you are going to do is make people want to play the game even less than they want to now. The need to hire new people to run those games.
The problem with playing online is that in the insanely rare chance you do actually win, you have essentially given up you ability to be anonymous since it's bought on an account with your information. I'm not sure you can even set up a trust or anything after the fact?
The FTC has some guidelines about what is "bait and switch" advertising and what isn't.
Maybe Stack 47 can back me up with this. Just went to KLC website and all the Instant Game winners (on-line) it just had a first name. On regular scratch tickets many said such and such a ticket sold that won $2500 (for instance). There were very few pictures.
My point is best of my knowledge nobody has won MM or PB playing on line.
After PB is won and new format comes on I'll TRY to just play CB 225 with my four tickets daily=$4.
Time to boycott!
I am not responsible for sagging Powerball sales!
I just don't understand how you can change the rules of the game whenever you please. The going gets rough, and you change the rules to make it easier on the lottery pocketbook.
I'm now playing less and less. Changing the rules in the middle of the game? NOT FAIR!
" Changing the rules whenever you please." Isn't that like your significant other telling you " l want to eat lobster on a regular basis moving forward in life." Should you respond, but it's pretty expensive, you told " You've been getting the best from me for years, you think l am not worth it?"
That exactly what they telling us " We lowering the start up JP, but we have always been here for you!"
The lottery is a business. The lottery isn't covering their guaranteed jackpot raises with the current ticket sales. They will not lose money. The rules will go back to normal when the pandemic is over and people are buying their tickets again.
Exactly. If they didn't lower the jackpots, they would probably go broke. This is an act of god, an unforeseeable event. They have to do whatever they need to in order to stay in business.
I'll keep playing till this jackpot is won. After that, I'll still play my regular line of numbers, but I'll have to decide at that time whether to play any quick picks with the lower jackpot.
This is a Chastisement / Plague on the whole world.
Now doctors, as seen on television, are talking about only saving those worthy of being saved.
They're talking about automatic do not resuscitate for Coronavirus patients. And, nobody over 60, gets a ventilator, that's evil, vile, racist, heartless.... That's like ethnic cleansing. A doctor takes one look at you, and you're going to die....
l read where Texas LT Gov "suggested" that Grandparents are willing to die for the US economy.
His words " No one reached out to me and said " as a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren? Patrick said " And if that's the exchange, lm all in."
Sounds like " Do not resuscitate " to me. You go Dan!
Saw where there was a $10,000 Online winner recently and a $100,000 winner a few months ago. There are several Online games where players can win over $100,000 including PB and MM. Haven't seen any five figure winners in either of those game.
The KY lottery issued first and last names and apparently they stopped doing that, but it's been about a years since the last time I looked so have no idea when it was discontinued.
Rubbish. Not a single thing they're doing now will increase sales, just the opposite.
They could lower the cost of the ticket or push to make the game available online or improve the odds. Their actions are only guaranteeing that more people play MegaMillions instead, which will decrease sales even more. What then? Lower the starting point again?
It's not as if this pandemic is going to be wrapped up in a few weeks or even a few months. Not with the idiots we have running the show. So they're guaranteeing a PB sales slump for the foreseeable future. They're operating on greed AND idiocy.
Taking MM out of the equation, the Florida lottery is currently at 18 million. Ticket price: $1. Odds of winning the jackpot: 1 in 23 million
If we were in the new PB game, why wouldn't people buy two FL tickets instead of 1 PB ticket with the odds at more than 10 times worse than the state game?
Keeping the odds and ticket price as is means that people will either choose the state game for better odds and half the cost, or go with MM for the same price but with a larger jackpot.
You have that wrong. That isn't what was said. They said that without enough beds and ventilators and staff, masks, gloves, equipment, this is what they're going to be forced to do.
Meaning, give them what they need to try to keep everyone alive. It is literally nothing like ethnic cleansing. It IS like having a moron in charge during the worse pandemic in generations and having that moron tell those trying keep people alive that he'll only help if his ego is stroked well enough.
We're seeing young, healthy people with no underlying issues die from COVID19 and we're seeing seniors recover from COVID19. But those are not the norm, so given we still don't have nearly enough tests, and not nearly enough resources to deal with what is really happening on the front lines, stay home and don't force practitioners to have to make those types of vile, heartless decisions on you.
PB Lottery Officials aren't trying to increase ticket sales,.. They're trying to keep from going broke..!!.
But if they were fair, they'd drop the $2. ticket price in half, along with the halfened starting jackpot amount..
Or like other businesses, offer some kinda incentives to save the business, like playing online up to a REASONABLE cutoff time to keep ticket sales up..! (like 10:55pm)
Proof that "There's no honor among thieves"..!!
They've been rippin off players for yrs, now.. for once, they're facing bleak odds of trying to WIN the continued patronage to their Emptypot from players they've treated horribly since its inception..!!
Sounds like the perfect time to boycott, especially since the halfened Jackpot.!!
It'll be interesting to see if the Feds will bail their crummy butts out..!!
-Stat$talker
Thank you Stack 47. Maybe they will go anonymous with all those 'winners' that just say where the ticket was purchased and nothing else?
So after this one is finally won and it goes to $20 million and $2 million with each no jackpot drawing I will do my best to purchase one ticket semi-annually since it'll take forever to get to $100 million, like about 20 weeks or so. Then my regular purchasing would commence.
The new PB is not fair and think they are being greedy. cut off ones nose to spite their face or however it goes. Too bad player input wasn't a factor. I'd say keep it the same except for once/week drawings? IDK, but they'll lose a lot of loyal customers with their choice.
Yes, the lottery is a business and probably not covering their guaranteed raises with the current ticket sales, but I didn't read anywhere that they will go back to the $40 mil start and $10 mil raises after this pandemic is over.
You are right. I made an assumption. If they do not go back to 40 million & 10 million increase I can see MM being the new top game.
Regardless of whether they raise or lower the jackpot, that sucker is hard to hit.
* On a side note, l have noticed that just about every 3rd person out here is wearing those masks,the ones covering the nose & mouth. Read a W.H.O piece where it states that those units are useless. Constantly breathing that bad air you have trapped should be freed, expunged since it's unhealthy. Plus, once that mask gets wet from your exhale, it needs to be tossed. One mask is not meant to be worn for hours.
* Just keep your distance & use common sense.
They scroll the Online scratch-off like game winners first name, city, and the amounts they won. Only winnings and not deposits can be withdrawn and it usually takes about 24 hours. Friday and weekend withdrawals won't hit the bank account until Monday.
I would not trust doctors at all making life, or death decisions, race, ethnicity, age, greying hair, could play a part in the decision making process.
"You would not trust Doctors."
During this crisis or in general? Death with honor huh, being placed in an unmarked grave will do just fine? Going out like Mozart, sewed into a linen bag & tossed with others in an open trench in a field? You gotta stand for something- What a guy!
remember folks, the house always wins.
MM has had a bunch of $5 million increases which for the unforeseeable future may be the norm.
If I put in a post about this ventilator debacle, it would be a very long post. Some of you know I'm a retired US Army trained Respiratory Therapist and then did another 20 in a PICU. Besides no staff to manage these patients, there are humongous obstacles in regards to the ventilators. IM me and I'll answer individually. Been waiting patiently on FB for an RT to mention this and so far none...scary stuff my friends. I could literally make a killing if I were to travel to a big city, one pays $100/hour plus $3400 week bonus. My health and well being there is no price tag for that. As for the Army, forget about that too, the young troops can/will handle it.
Ripoff game any how. Bad enough states only pay half your odds on pick3@4 games. I will pass on government run lottery.
I also assumed they'd go back to $40M minimum and $10M increases when this is back to normal.
But what I really hope they'd do is overhaul it to make the million dollar 2nd prize easier to win. Yes, a whole bunch of people don't play unless the top prize is astronomical, but there are plenty of us who'd play for a million if we had a shot in aitch at winning it. I might even purchase the power play to get 2 - 10 million, which I haven't bought in a decade or more. I don't know how long it's even been since someone in my state won 2nd prize.
Add a few Powerball numbers to make the jackpot a little harder to win, and decrease the white ball numbers to make the million easier to win. I don't know how each state would handle that. They would need a little more in their coffers to pay those prizes, and I believe as it stands, most have a set percentage of profits that must be given to whichever government agency the lottery is supposed to supplement.
Maybe Powerball would have to take a few hundred grand out of the jackpot each draw to distribute to each state to help them pay for those extra prizes. I could live with a smaller rise in the pot as the trade off. But I think making it harder to get the Red Ball would lead to more humongous jackpots which would more than make up for any losses taken on the extra million dollar prizes.
Well my state did cancel the $50,000 April raffle the day before it was to begin. They claim they don't want the game to contribute to the Covid crisis but ignore the fact that they are continuing to offer the regular games, go figure.
I'm not really complaining as I never win anything in these raffles even though I have played every single one they have offered over the years.
Why did you stop, it's just $2. Chances are, however slim that once you grind your game to a halt, next thing you know, the winning ticket is purchased at that same watering hole you purchase your tickets at. Don't be a casualty of " shoulda,coulda,woulda.
Just saying...
"I also assumed they'd go back to $40M minimum and $10M increases when this is back to normal."
I suspect that at the very least they'll continue it as an experiment after things go back to normal. Assuming we'll know what and when "normal" is. Even when they first adopted the $40 million starting jackpot they were well short of fully funding the advertised annuity until getting through several drawings without a winner. Even skimming 50% off the top they could still have a net loss if somebody won on the first drawing. Typical sales for an advertised jackpot of $40 million might be about $25 million, and depending on interest rates they might have to pay out the entire $25 million as a cash jackpot. After 2 or 3 drawings they couldn't lose money, but it could still be several more drawings before they had enough cash to fund the annuity (and equal the advertised cash value) and make their planned 50% profit. It was easy to tell when the jackpot was fully funded, because the rollovers started to be more than the minimum.
People not going out as much has obviously reduced sales (at least among the players who normally drive sales higher as the jackpot goes up), but it used to be unusual for he advertised jackpot to reach $80 to $10 million without having rollovers of more than the $10 million minimum. More recently, but well before the coronavirus made it to the US, we started seeing the advertised jackpot get well past $100 million before exceeding the minimum rollover. On 11/2/19 the advertised jackpot was $150 million before it was won without ever having a rollover of more than $10 million. The next time around it made it to 160 before increasing by $11 million to 171 on 12/18/19. Some of that is because of jackpot fatigue and declining sales (or at least a slower increase a the jackpot increases) and some was due to lower interest rates requiring more cash to fund an annuity of any given size.
My guess is that they'll wait a while to see how sales rebound as people start going out to the stores more often before considering any changes back towards the old model. After that I expect that we might see the starting jackpot go up again, but with a lower increase. Based on typical starting sales from a few months ago and current interest rates we might see minimum increases of $7 million, but they might decide that a nice round $5 million is better. And I suppose there's even a very slim chance that they might finally decide to just tell the truth and post a cash jackpot that's based on an estimate of actual ticket sales.