Powerball to increase to three drawings a week

May 3, 2021, 2:32 pm (54 comments)

Powerball

By Kate Northrop

This morning, lottery officials announced that the multi-state Powerball lottery game will increase the number of nightly drawings from two to three times a week starting August 2021.

Players will have another shot at that big jackpot prize now that a new Monday drawing is added to the weekly draw schedule.

In addition to the drawings held on Wednesday and Saturday nights at 10:59 EST, Powerball will conduct a drawing on Monday nights at the same time.

"Our players really enjoy Powerball, and we are pleased to offer them the option of a third weekly drawing," Mississippi Lottery Corporation (MLC) President Tom Shaheen stated in a press release by the Mississippi Lottery this morning. "By having an additional draw-night, there is a greater opportunity for faster growing jackpots and more cash winnings."

The first-ever Powerball Monday night drawing will take place on Aug. 23, 2021. Players will be able to pick up tickets for the first Monday drawing starting Sun., Aug. 22, 2021.

Odds, rules, or set cash prizes will not change with the addition of another drawing, and the ticket price remains $2.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Bleudog101

Now going to wait and see if Mega Millions will offer sales on Sundays???    If so, that just leaves Thursday untouched!  LOL!

Just a thought came to me, how nice it would be if they'd return to starting @ $40 million and old incremental increases.   This retired Respiratory Therapist won't hold his breath for that to happen!

Unlucky-Kenny's avatarUnlucky-Kenny

Quote: Originally posted by Bleudog101 on May 3, 2021

Now going to wait and see if Mega Millions will offer sales on Sundays???    If so, that just leaves Thursday untouched!  LOL!

Just a thought came to me, how nice it would be if they'd return to starting @ $40 million and old incremental increases.   This retired Respiratory Therapist won't hold his breath for that to happen!

Watch - in 10 years both will be a daily game with mid and eve draws.

LOL

jplayer33

Yet another way for the greedy state and national lottery operators to entice players to lose more money. This is like how Cash 4 Life went from twice a week to daily drawings and how Pa Match 6 did the same. And notice all the add-ons to lottery games that effectively double the price of the bet like the Pick 3 and Pick 4 fireball option or the Powerball and Megaball multiplier option. All these options which are billed as giving players more ways to win, which is true, but these costly options also means players bet more money for the CHANCE to win and as we all know most times we lose. Of course, no one makes us gamble but we gamblers must see these so-called new options for what they are: CASH GRABS.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by jplayer33 on May 3, 2021

Yet another way for the greedy state and national lottery operators to entice players to lose more money. This is like how Cash 4 Life went from twice a week to daily drawings and how Pa Match 6 did the same. And notice all the add-ons to lottery games that effectively double the price of the bet like the Pick 3 and Pick 4 fireball option or the Powerball and Megaball multiplier option. All these options which are billed as giving players more ways to win, which is true, but these costly options also means players bet more money for the CHANCE to win and as we all know most times we lose. Of course, no one makes us gamble but we gamblers must see these so-called new options for what they are: CASH GRABS.

I'm not sure I understand your concern about the Pick 3 and Pick 4 add-ons.  Nobody is forcing you to buy them, just like you don't have to buy the Power Play and Megaplier features.  People buy them if they want them.  More choice seems like a great thing to me.

In PA, the daily Match 6 drawings are great also.  It's nice to be able to buy a ticket and then find out if you're a winner that evening.

I have no idea how I'll feel about the extra Powerball drawing, but my guess is that it will be fine.

Droptop209's avatarDroptop209

Extra monday draws 2021

 

international play 2022

 

How many years until they change the matrix?

jplayer33

Thanks, Todd. I pointed out no one is forcing us to gamble or to play the options but wanted to put out there that the options also benefit the bottom line of the lottery operators and can farther entice problem gamblers.

Unlucky-Kenny's avatarUnlucky-Kenny

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on May 3, 2021

I'm not sure I understand your concern about the Pick 3 and Pick 4 add-ons.  Nobody is forcing you to buy them, just like you don't have to buy the Power Play and Megaplier features.  People buy them if they want them.  More choice seems like a great thing to me.

In PA, the daily Match 6 drawings are great also.  It's nice to be able to buy a ticket and then find out if you're a winner that evening.

I have no idea how I'll feel about the extra Powerball drawing, but my guess is that it will be fine.

More choices are usually better.

However, if I don't play my numbers on Monday's draw they will for sure hit without me!

LOL

wander73's avatarwander73

It should go back to $1 and $1 x.    Maybe a system I started working on will get me more money in.

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by Unlucky-Kenny on May 3, 2021

Watch - in 10 years both will be a daily game with mid and eve draws.

LOL

I'm more concerned as to whether they will lower the starting jackpot. They said just about everything else, but that.

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by wander73 on May 3, 2021

It should go back to $1 and $1 x.    Maybe a system I started working on will get me more money in.

In a way you like Todd- always "working on something,"  but the comparison ends there.

Unlucky-Kenny's avatarUnlucky-Kenny

Quote: Originally posted by noise-gate on May 3, 2021

I'm more concerned as to whether they will lower the starting jackpot. They said just about everything else, but that.

I don't think they will go lower past $20 million - that would be ultra lame.

*knocks on wood*

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by wander73 on May 3, 2021

It should go back to $1 and $1 x.    Maybe a system I started working on will get me more money in.

I'm pretty sure they added another drawing because millions of $2 tickets are sold for the two weekly drawings they have now. Your request is similar to raising the starting annuitized jackpot as if it's easier to win the drawing after a jackpot is hit.

EnReval

Funny-- they should now increase the starting pot!

Charloot's avatarCharloot

Nice news, good reason to stick with favorite numbers!

Good luck everyone.

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

"they should now increase the starting pot!"

When they say the rules won't change I expect that means that the starting jackpot won't go up or down, and the minimum increase also won't go up or down. With a minimum increase of only $2 million there's not a lot of room to reduce it, but if it hadn't already been reduced I suspect they'd do it now because with 3 drawings a week there's a good chance that the  sales per drawing will go down.

In a lot of ways this is comparable to raising the price to $3 and lowering the odds. Instead of $4 to play twice a week for a 1 in 146 million chance at the jackpot it's now $6 for a 1 in 97.3 million chance. The big mystery is whether players will be influenced more by the 50% price increase or the better effective odds. I'm figuring a lot of players won't spend the extra money.

That also affects how much faster the jackpot will grow. Unless sales really tank the jackpot will definitely grow faster from week to week, but the increase from one jackpot to the next will be lower than what we're used to if the sales per drawing go down. Based on the variation in increases in the past I think that having 4 days for sales instead of 3 is already a factor, so only having 2 days for sales have an effect that's independent of the jackpot amount.

LottoNoobie

When a jackpot is won, is the state responsible for paying? Like if the grand prize winner lived in Michigan does the money come from that sole state? The reason I'm asking mainly pertains to the 3 digit. My normal systems stopped working for a while. I thought it was because trip 7s had dropped, but then I read a story about a lucky 4 life winner that won 1,000/per day.

CDanaT's avatarCDanaT

Must be about time to change the ole matrix..what has it been ???  5 years ?  Mad

Stat$talker's avatarStat$talker

They really think that players believe that their motive for such a change is to benefit US.! LOL Haaa..!!

The Pandemic has cut into their Money.. so , adding an extra drawing per week is their way of trying to increase their revenue and  profits, but not increase their expenses..

No No  Just MORE smoke blown up our butts... the Height of Arrogance, meanwhile, setting an unprecedented cutoff time of an HOUR to rigg the results ,so they can award Big Jackpots to anybody , anywhere , except in the Communities that participates/ contributes the MOST..!!

    THIS News Topic is Officially stamped.....

               "CERTIFIED BULLS***TBlue Thinking

 

-Stat$talker 

s5thomps's avatars5thomps

Quote: Originally posted by Unlucky-Kenny on May 3, 2021

More choices are usually better.

However, if I don't play my numbers on Monday's draw they will for sure hit without me!

LOL

I Agree! Imagine coming home from a crappy Monday at work only to watch the 10 p.m. news and see your winning Powerball numbers flash across the bottom of the screen. You scream with excitement and joy only to realize that you forgot to pick up your ticket and play your numbers for the Monday drawing! I have heard of a case where that actually happened! So always err on the side of caution because a opportunity like that only comes "once in a lifetime!"  Nothing worse than your ship finally coming in only to miss the boat at the dock because you forgot to buy a ticket. That person had to feel horrible at that moment and it's a situation that I think a person would never  truly get over. All the Coulda, Woulda, shoulda's cant change that!

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by LottoNoobie on May 3, 2021

When a jackpot is won, is the state responsible for paying? Like if the grand prize winner lived in Michigan does the money come from that sole state? The reason I'm asking mainly pertains to the 3 digit. My normal systems stopped working for a while. I thought it was because trip 7s had dropped, but then I read a story about a lucky 4 life winner that won 1,000/per day.

Todd or others can correct me if I'm wrong.   Payouts for pick 3/4 and whatever state only lottery tickets they have is the responsibility of the state for the money.

 

Lucky for Life, Cash 4 Life out of CT and NJ respectively garner all the wagers countrywide and goes into a pot so to speak.   Same for Powerball and Mega Millions.   The computer would know what state owes what and wouldn't surprise me in the least if it was done automatically through an EFT?  My point is no matter how the funds are transferred the individual state does not pay for the whole jackpot---that would bankrupt them quickly!

Todd's avatarTodd

Multi-state jackpots are paid by all the states collectively.  A percentage of every ticket sold goes toward the jackpot in each state.  When someone wins the jackpot, all the states send their share to the state lottery that sold the ticket, and that state then pays out the winner once it's all collected.  (That's why it can take a couple of weeks to get the check.)

On the other hand, all non-jackpot prizes are paid 100% by the state that sold the winning ticket.  So if someone from South Dakota wins a $1 million Mega Millions prize, the South Dakota lottery pays out 100% of that $1 million prize from lottery sales within their state.

You can think of multi-state games as hybrid games, in which there is a truly multi-state jackpot game combined with an in-state game for all the lower-tier prizes.

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on May 4, 2021

Multi-state jackpots are paid by all the states collectively.  A percentage of every ticket sold goes toward the jackpot in each state.  When someone wins the jackpot, all the states send their share to the state lottery that sold the ticket, and that state then pays out the winner once it's all collected.  (That's why it can take a couple of weeks to get the check.)

On the other hand, all non-jackpot prizes are paid 100% by the state that sold the winning ticket.  So if someone from South Dakota wins a $1 million Mega Millions prize, the South Dakota lottery pays out 100% of that $1 million prize from lottery sales within their state.

You can think of multi-state games as hybrid games, in which there is a truly multi-state jackpot game combined with an in-state game for all the lower-tier prizes.

Thanks Todd for this information.   

 

Had always thought that MUSL would get the money and send it to the state)s) with the winning jackpot(s). 

HiyoCheeto

Well, I'm going the opposite way and just by a ticket on Wednesdays. If it's meant to be it will have be on Wednesday.

billybucks

Next will be drawings twice a day. Really. Players can pay mega millions on Tuesday and  Friday and Powerbore on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays now. They bumped the price to 2.00 years ago and increased the matrix to an impossible amount of numbers to choose from. Isn't that enough. It is a full time job just to play now. Also you need one to be able to play them.

EnReval

That would be nice, more people would winning

EnReval

I agree, instead of waiting 30 yrs maybe it will decrease to 15 or less

PHIL85

First it was 'Lucky For Life' announcing they were taking the game from twice weekly to daily status, to which I made the decision I will completely stop playing LFL when that takes effect. If I can't afford to be in every drawing then I will not play. I would hate it if my numbers came in on a drawing that I hadn't purchased a ticket. I haven't decided if I will drop Powerball yet. But if I do I will take the money I was spending and play it instead on my states lottery game as extra wagers.  I have a set budget for lottery play and will not exceed it.

billybucks

Quote: Originally posted by PHIL85 on May 4, 2021

First it was 'Lucky For Life' announcing they were taking the game from twice weekly to daily status, to which I made the decision I will completely stop playing LFL when that takes effect. If I can't afford to be in every drawing then I will not play. I would hate it if my numbers came in on a drawing that I hadn't purchased a ticket. I haven't decided if I will drop Powerball yet. But if I do I will take the money I was spending and play it instead on my states lottery game as extra wagers.  I have a set budget for lottery play and will not exceed it.

I only play state lotteries. I can easily reach three states and generally their jackpots are in the 1-5 million range which are sneered at by most since they want the 200m or more or they won't play. These are far more hittable with many less numbers and are usually only 1.00 a play. Ok, 1 million isn't very much money any more but 2 million seems like enough to slide by with. Also any states Cash 5 game is worth looking at especially if it goes over 100k like RI does on occasion.

Charloot's avatarCharloot

I agree with Billy bucks, why wait, 20 mill is good with me!

Good luck everyone!

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Well this is bad Powerball news. My budget was already at its maximum weekly expenditure.

Powerball would be more enticing if it remained two drawings per week, yet changed its Powerplay multiplier to maximum of 5 or 6 for all non-jackpot prizes!!!  Powerball should begin  creating 2nd Prize NET multi-millionaire ($2MM+) prize claimers through each of its member states annually. EVERY drawing should produce at least one 2nd prize winning ticket.  So, the range of white balls numbers should probably be lowered by one.

Charloot's avatarCharloot

Yes, they need to change the payouts for sure unfair!

billybucks

Quote: Originally posted by Charloot on May 4, 2021

Yes, they need to change the payouts for sure unfair!

By all means skim some off the big jackpot prize and spread it out more for 2nd tier prizes and make it enticing enough and that will draw in more play. You still get more than you need if you win the jackpot even if it creeps up slower. The novelty of the getting to a number because it is the 25th highest ever has run its course in interest. Double all the 2nd tier prizes instead.

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by KY Floyd on May 3, 2021

"they should now increase the starting pot!"

When they say the rules won't change I expect that means that the starting jackpot won't go up or down, and the minimum increase also won't go up or down. With a minimum increase of only $2 million there's not a lot of room to reduce it, but if it hadn't already been reduced I suspect they'd do it now because with 3 drawings a week there's a good chance that the  sales per drawing will go down.

In a lot of ways this is comparable to raising the price to $3 and lowering the odds. Instead of $4 to play twice a week for a 1 in 146 million chance at the jackpot it's now $6 for a 1 in 97.3 million chance. The big mystery is whether players will be influenced more by the 50% price increase or the better effective odds. I'm figuring a lot of players won't spend the extra money.

That also affects how much faster the jackpot will grow. Unless sales really tank the jackpot will definitely grow faster from week to week, but the increase from one jackpot to the next will be lower than what we're used to if the sales per drawing go down. Based on the variation in increases in the past I think that having 4 days for sales instead of 3 is already a factor, so only having 2 days for sales have an effect that's independent of the jackpot amount.

I Agree!

But the reason PB added another drawing should be obvious after reading the Lucky for Life April 26 announcement. Another factor is in some states PB is favored over MM and contributing to why PB sales for equal size jackpots are slightly higher. 

Have no idea why making "I won't play" remarks are necessary, but it's business as usual.

DrMiracle

Aha!!!  They know there are lots of FREE MONEY  flowing around. 

Unemployment Payment: Party40 million filed for unemployment ( DOLabor) ( because of lock-down no where to spend)

Stimulus checks- $1200+$600$+$1400

Free Food  drive Grab and pick up --$300 saving monthly on grocery.

For Example, Maryland, in Montgomery County offers RENT money for 6 to 8 months..Dance

IRS and State deductions of $ 10,200 unemployment

From July IRS will send each child $300

 

NOW JUST SPEND EXTRA $2 WEEKLY ON POWERBALL, CAN'T YOU DO THAT.?

scorpio45

very hard to win pb,mm lottery,i get 5 lines is 30 numbers and hardly ever get one number in drawing,oh well computers.

Think's avatarThink

Not in the least bit exciting.

The Michigan 6/xx started out at 6/40 and went to 6/44, 6/47, 6/49 and 6/51 before dropping back to 6/49 and having three draws per week and now it has been back at 6/47 with two draws per week since 2005.

A matrix change with different options would be actual exciting changes but I guess the next move will be to eventually cut back to better odds and two draws per week again.

Fish7568

3 times  a week powerball drawing is cash grab.  I rather invest some my money on dogecoin, and other crypto and investing stock than playing the powerball 3 times a week.

 

Mark Cuban said investing on dogecoin it is better than lottery tickets.

 

if you invest 1000 dollars dogecoin last year. Today it worth over 150k dollars or higher.

 

Do you think powerball and mega million bring back 40 million dollars jackpot.  We are going back to normal.

Ranett's avatarRanett

Try fixing up their cruddy looking website. 👎

 

Rexer90

So smaller rollovers & 50% more income (assuming no one stops playing)? They claimed the lower rollover & starting jackpot was because of covid, but ticket sales stats indicate that hasn't been the case for quite some time. They're getting greedy.

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

I'd say they've already been greedy for along time, and they're just  trying to figure out how much they can push it.

It was always fairly uncommon to have a winner before the jackpot was fully funded, so going back to a $40 million starting jackpot isn't much of a risk. A larger jackpot also means bigger jackpots sooner, so I've got to figure that average ticket sales over a given period are higher with the larger starting jackpot. I think somebody decided that 3 drawings per week is a loophole. They get to keep the lower starting jackpot so that it's less likely that they'll lose money when somebody wins in the first few rolls, but as long as total weekly sales go up the jackpot will grow faster than it does now.

With the price increase to $2 they only needed to sell half as many tickets to collect the same amount of money. Going from 2 to 3 drawings per week they just need sales for each drawing to be 66.7%.

I don't start playing until te jackpot reaches $150 to $200 million, so if they get any more money from me it will be because they're offering me more chances at a large jackpot. All those people who need to play for every drawing are what they're counting on, and it's probably a winning bet.

billybucks

Quote: Originally posted by KY Floyd on May 9, 2021

I'd say they've already been greedy for along time, and they're just  trying to figure out how much they can push it.

It was always fairly uncommon to have a winner before the jackpot was fully funded, so going back to a $40 million starting jackpot isn't much of a risk. A larger jackpot also means bigger jackpots sooner, so I've got to figure that average ticket sales over a given period are higher with the larger starting jackpot. I think somebody decided that 3 drawings per week is a loophole. They get to keep the lower starting jackpot so that it's less likely that they'll lose money when somebody wins in the first few rolls, but as long as total weekly sales go up the jackpot will grow faster than it does now.

With the price increase to $2 they only needed to sell half as many tickets to collect the same amount of money. Going from 2 to 3 drawings per week they just need sales for each drawing to be 66.7%.

I don't start playing until te jackpot reaches $150 to $200 million, so if they get any more money from me it will be because they're offering me more chances at a large jackpot. All those people who need to play for every drawing are what they're counting on, and it's probably a winning bet.

I hope you don't have a set of favorite numbers then. I believe you should play every drawing although I do not agree with the Monday expansion. I do not understand why 40m isn't enough to win. You really do not have that many chances to play it lifetime if you add 104 x the number of years you have left. I play every drawing plus all my state ones plus other states if I can get there both daily numbers game every day and my favorite the cash 5 which I have won twice. One or two tickets each covers these one set of regular numbers and one random usually. Do not finesse drawings due to it not being enough to meet your needs. I do not play scratch tickets ever. Buying the right ticket in the right store at the right time is too difficult an undertaking.

Unlucky-Kenny's avatarUnlucky-Kenny

Quote: Originally posted by billybucks on May 10, 2021

I hope you don't have a set of favorite numbers then. I believe you should play every drawing although I do not agree with the Monday expansion. I do not understand why 40m isn't enough to win. You really do not have that many chances to play it lifetime if you add 104 x the number of years you have left. I play every drawing plus all my state ones plus other states if I can get there both daily numbers game every day and my favorite the cash 5 which I have won twice. One or two tickets each covers these one set of regular numbers and one random usually. Do not finesse drawings due to it not being enough to meet your needs. I do not play scratch tickets ever. Buying the right ticket in the right store at the right time is too difficult an undertaking.

Same exact reason I am not a scratch card person either - glad to see someone thinks along the same lines as me so I know I am not too nuts.

Haha.

The way I look at it is that where I live - no one ever wins big scratch cards - so I could buy all of them in the store and still not have a chance of winning.

Seems to always be the same 10 cities in my state that have all the big scratch card winners.

I always play MM/PB every draw no matter the prize level - if I won the jackpot after it was just reset to $20m you wouldn't hear any complaints from me.

I'd be happy with just the $1m x multiplier prize.

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

"I do not understand why 40m isn't enough to win."

I don't understand why anyone would think it makes sense to spend money for a chance at  $40 million when the exact same amount of money will get them the exact same chance at winning $400 million.

lottologix

Quote: Originally posted by KY Floyd on May 10, 2021

"I do not understand why 40m isn't enough to win."

I don't understand why anyone would think it makes sense to spend money for a chance at  $40 million when the exact same amount of money will get them the exact same chance at winning $400 million.

Millions plural. I only need millions so that i can buy enough winning tickets that anyone who wins with me will stastically only get like 5 bucks. That meltdown = priceless :)

Charloot's avatarCharloot

I still advocate choose your states Quick Pick! 

They want to win too!

End of story!

Unlucky-Kenny's avatarUnlucky-Kenny

Quote: Originally posted by KY Floyd on May 10, 2021

"I do not understand why 40m isn't enough to win."

I don't understand why anyone would think it makes sense to spend money for a chance at  $40 million when the exact same amount of money will get them the exact same chance at winning $400 million.

I mean my main reason for playing every draw is with my luck - if I don't play my numbers when its $40 million they will hit.

Haha.

I do it for the consistency.

But you are correct in saying your buying power for money spent is better spent on the $400m jackpot, can't deny that.

Unlucky-Kenny's avatarUnlucky-Kenny

Quote: Originally posted by Charloot on May 11, 2021

I still advocate choose your states Quick Pick! 

They want to win too!

End of story!

I read somewhere once that 80% of the big winning tickets are QPs.

Smiley

billybucks

Quote: Originally posted by KY Floyd on May 10, 2021

"I do not understand why 40m isn't enough to win."

I don't understand why anyone would think it makes sense to spend money for a chance at  $40 million when the exact same amount of money will get them the exact same chance at winning $400 million.

Because how often does it get to 400m. Maybe two or three times a year. Hopefully you have more than 20 years left to live. Most lottery players are down to their last 15 or so. Even a 10m jackpot will work for them. You must play every drawing you possibly can if that is what your are looking for. Why would a 62 yr. old person only play when it is 300m or more. Good luck playing only about 10 more times in your life.

rcbbuckeye's avatarrcbbuckeye

I play every draw, and I'm hoping just to hit second prize. At my age (66, 67 in 2 weeks) a million even after taxes will take care of me for my remaining years. 

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

"Why would a 62 yr. old person only play when it is 300m or more."

For starters I'm not an addict and I know that the odds say I'll lose most of the money I spend on tickets. I also know that if I wanted to buy 104 tickets per year I can do that even if I only play for a single drawing.

If I were to play 104 tickets all for one $400 million drawing I'd have a slightly better chance of winning a jackpot (as well as the $1 million 2nd prize) than by buying 1 ticket for each of 104 drawings, and I'd be playing for an average jackpot of $400 million. Based on the  jackpots for the last year anyone who bought one ticket for each MM drawing had a slightly lower chance of winning the jackpot or 2nd place prize (though offset by the extremely minuscule chance of winning more than once), and the average jackpot was $143 million.

Other than being an addict or confused about the odds why would anyone, regardless of their age, play every single drawing?

treefiddy

They are crowding out Mega so they are in a stronger position for the eventual merger.

LottoCommunity's avatarLottoCommunity

Quote: Originally posted by treefiddy on May 17, 2021

They are crowding out Mega so they are in a stronger position for the eventual merger.

The truth is that it is difficult to win the lottery alone, it is best to form teams to win the lottery without spending so much money, that is, dividing the prize among the members.

ieatdirt

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on May 4, 2021

Multi-state jackpots are paid by all the states collectively.  A percentage of every ticket sold goes toward the jackpot in each state.  When someone wins the jackpot, all the states send their share to the state lottery that sold the ticket, and that state then pays out the winner once it's all collected.  (That's why it can take a couple of weeks to get the check.)

On the other hand, all non-jackpot prizes are paid 100% by the state that sold the winning ticket.  So if someone from South Dakota wins a $1 million Mega Millions prize, the South Dakota lottery pays out 100% of that $1 million prize from lottery sales within their state.

You can think of multi-state games as hybrid games, in which there is a truly multi-state jackpot game combined with an in-state game for all the lower-tier prizes.

Yes I remember not long after Wyoming joined someone hit the $1M Mega Millions along with the 5x multiplier, so $5M winner.  I'm sure they were probably upside down or at least had their reserves depleted for a while.

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

 the Tuesday drawing advertised at $475 million WY had sales of $77,000. For starting jackpots sales are usually about $40,000. Paying out a $5 million prize would take roughly every dime of MM sales for an entire year. Since they still have to pay out about 50 cents of every dollar to fund other prizes they would have been upside down for about 2 years.

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