Streak of jackpot winners is bad luck for Powerball lottery sales

Comment #39

CASH Only — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 19:16:56 GMT

Lately there have been too many PB winners...oh, that's so obvious...

Comment #38

Maverick — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 01:59:22 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by orangeman on March 19, 2005It is really cute that the lotto industry gripes when there are too many winners. That should give you a clue about their attitude toward players. In reality, the player and the game owners are mortal enemies. They are not our friends. It makes me smile when I see good minds at LP

Comment #37

orangeman — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 23:06:07 GMT

Statistically, there are more Pick 3 players than multi-state lotto players. Why? Because they feel they have a rat's chance of winning and they can get their minds around the game. Personally, I buy one quick-pick on Mega Millions in hopes that fate will touch me. I have no system for a game with that kind of odds and anyone who does . . .God bless them.We have to remember that the lotto is a money raiser and the ones who operate it have no interest in our success or failure. Like the funer... [ More ]

Comment #36

MADDOG10 — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 22:40:35 GMT

like i've said before, makes no difference if it's 500,000 or 500,000,000.00 i'd still play it...

Comment #35

ayenowitall — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 21:29:59 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by Phokas on March 19, 2005Ten million dollars is a life changing amount of money; I'd say most sane people wouldn't sneer at winning $100,000 or even a mere $5,000. Are all of you people so super rich now that only $100,000,000 or more is worth you handing over a few tatty bucks out of your pocket/purse for? Your odds are still the same regardless of the size of the jackpot. And there is nothing to say after this current streak of almost weekly winners that from now t... [ More ]

Comment #34

fxdwg — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 19:14:14 GMT

Lots of reading and thoughts in these posts.Having read them plus re-reading my own I just played my last multi-State Lottery the odds are just overwhelmingly against you and now to boost sales they are changing the matrix. I started playing PB and MM because I too was lured in by big money. At first I too dreamed of wanting to live large as the years went by my thoughts also changed. I will still play but on a state level only;Lottomike and Maverick I join you

Comment #33

Phokas — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 12:52:09 GMT

Ten million dollars is a life changing amount of money; I'd say most sane people wouldn't sneer at winning $100,000 or even a mere $5,000. Are all of you people so super rich now that only $100,000,000 or more is worth you handing over a few tatty bucks out of your pocket/purse for? Your odds are still the same regardless of the size of the jackpot. And there is nothing to say after this current streak of almost weekly winners that from now to the end of the year no one will hit it.People neve... [ More ]

Comment #32

dvdiva — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 06:41:23 GMT

Its not that the sales are low for a 10 million dollar drawing. In fact the sales are normal for very low jackpots. What is killing powerball is the lack of large jackpots. Sales are higher in Megamillions now because the jackpots are 2-4x what powerball has been recently. I haven't played both for a while now because the jackpots have just stank. Neither game is living up to its potential recently.

Comment #31

ayenowitall — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 05:21:34 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by hitchaser on March 17, 2005the goal of the people who run these games is to generate higher sales through more people playing for a higher jackpot. the goal of real lottery players is to win enough money to get out of the rat race. thesetwo goals have nothing to do with one another.hitchaser...State lottery directors are paid very well to look out for the welfare of the states in running the lottery games. As a player, my interest is in trying to win a jackpot. Frankl... [ More ]

Comment #30

DoctorEw220 — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 04:49:07 GMT

for the most part, the winners were quick picks, but some do win with hand-chosen numbers.

Comment #29

WannaWinSoon — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 04:42:43 GMT

What I'm interested to know is if the winners had QPs or picked their own numbers. Does the PB/MUSL Web site provide that information? I don't recall seeing it there.

Comment #28

DoctorEw220 — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 04:10:24 GMT

i'd give it a few months and powerball will be having $100 million+ jackpots again. this trend it going to stop sooner or later.

Comment #27

Maverick — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 23:54:21 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by LOTTOMIKE on March 17, 2005i quit playing powerball two months ago....I quit playing Mega Millions recently also. Is this a new Gail Howard technique? Perhaps the trend is your friend

Comment #26

fxdwg — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 21:43:55 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by Maverick on March 17, 2005Personally, I still find it ironic that some people get disappointed when there are no big jackpots, as if it's so easy for them to win. But as long as they play what they can afford, everything should be okay. I am with you on that Maverick I just don't see it. But it looks as if I am going to have to change my thinking a little. Someone stated over in the Mega Million thread on this same subject that they will continue to play because the... [ More ]

Comment #25

LOTTOMIKE — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 21:15:03 GMT

i agree with rick g the pick 5 is way easier and to me its more fun to play.......

Comment #24

LOTTOMIKE — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 21:06:17 GMT

i quit playing powerball two months ago....

Comment #23

JimmySand9 — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 20:16:49 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by markp1950 on March 16, 2005 I have the choice of playing many games right now....(near the Wis-Illinois border)Wis Megabucks..... $2.1 Million 1:7Mill oddsPowerball................ $18 Million 1:120 Million oddsMega Millions.......... $36 Million 1:135 Mill odds...And nowIllinois Lotto ........... $25 Million.... 1:10 million odds....It makes Illinois Lotto 15x Better than Powerball and last week when Powerball was smaller Illinois Lotto was somthing like 27x... [ More ]

Comment #22

Maverick — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 18:31:15 GMT

tg636: streaks of both winning and not winning go with the territory the states make money on even the lowest of jackpots.Todd: Sure, they make money, but less than what big multi-state games are supposed to make for a lotto game that has frequent winners, that's what your state's Pick 6 game is for. The big multi-state games are there to have big rollovers and big jackpots.I agree with tg636. On the other hand I also understand Todd's point, which is correct according to what a game like PB... [ More ]

Comment #21

Lottophene — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 17:32:13 GMT

Wow it was hit yet again. 120 million to one seems really high odds for a 10 million jackpot game.Guys looks like we'll have to wait until the last two quarters for a large jackpot. That always seems to be when they are largest.

Comment #20

BabyJC — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 15:45:47 GMT

I just moved to NH a few months ago and find it ironic that the jackpots have all been low/not exciting! When I did not live here, they were always high and I had to travel far to buy tickets. It's aggravating

Comment #19

dvdiva — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 14:33:21 GMT

Wow it was hit yet again. 120 million to one seems really high odds for a 10 million jackpot game.

Comment #18

extron_007 — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 14:03:32 GMT

Hello everyone, My name is Arthur and Im from De. Just sign to your little group. How about we all move to Pa it seems that they are getting all the winning powerball numbers

Comment #17

hitchaser — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 12:20:44 GMT

the goal of the people who run these games is to generate higher sales through more people playing for a higher jackpot. the goal of real lottery players is to win enough money to get out of the rat race. thesetwo goals have nothing to do with one another.hitchaser...

Comment #16

MPJO — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 06:18:20 GMT

Right now Powerball is the YUGO of Lotteries

Comment #15

DoctorEw220 — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 05:32:33 GMT

well who would have thought that it would be hit again.Todd: Can we do a petition to get the powerball jackpot and matrix raised

Comment #14

dvdiva — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 03:27:23 GMT

Wow who would have though that low jackpots would equal low sales. You would think that people running these games sometimes slept through economics classes.One would only hope that they change powerball. Perhaps follow my advice and make a game that comes close to or just over the 1:200 million mark. It's clear that the current game doesn't work if the purpose is to actually sell tickets and make participating states money.

Comment #13

markp1950 — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 03:01:29 GMT

I have the choice of playing many games right now....(near the Wis-Illinois border)Wis Megabucks..... $2.1 Million 1:7Mill oddsPowerball................ $18 Million 1:120 Million oddsMega Millions.......... $36 Million 1:135 Mill odds...And nowIllinois Lotto ........... $25 Million.... 1:10 million odds....It makes Illinois Lotto 15x Better than Powerball and last week when Powerball was smaller Illinois Lotto was somthing like 27x plus better than powerball....I did put a couple of buc... [ More ]

Comment #12

Lottophene — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 23:08:33 GMT

Admittedly I'm not fluent in Lotterese. I take it that a matrix change would entail the drop of a few more white balls into the chute and the subsequent increase of odds - say maybe 1 in 150 million. Well hey I'll take that! It's too boring to drive by a convenience store and see the familiar powerball signs reading 10 million . . boooring

Comment #11

CASH Only — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 22:32:17 GMT

At least South Dakota (where the article was about), six other states and DC have Hot Lotto.

Comment #10

MillionsWanted — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 22:23:28 GMT

People must be spoiled thinking that $ 10-40 million is not enough to be interested in buying tickets.

Comment #9

RJOh — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 22:16:05 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by Rick G on March 16, 2005What are you going to do with all that money if you do win a half-billion $ jackpot? With the rules that PowerBall have when the jackpot exceeds the previous record, I doubt it will ever have a half billion dollars jackpot. At that point the second prize value increase. Multi-States lotteries aren't trying to attract those core players who will buy a lottery ticket to win $500-$4M, but those players who never think about any lottery until they... [ More ]

Comment #8

Rick G — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 21:41:32 GMT

Easy solution for these cry babies. Have a pick 3,4 game. It's the most popular game in the country and you automatically get 50% on all sales daily. The payoff to odds ratio is the best any state lottery has to offer so the player goes for it. IL has had a daily pick 3 game since 1972 and hasn't had to change the payoff to odds ratio or matrix once (except for their bonus draws), so they must still be making money. 33 years of success. The jackpot games are changing their matrices like... [ More ]

Comment #7

tg636 — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 21:09:05 GMT

I understand that. I like thinking about the possibilities of having $300 million after taxes as much as anyone. If the jackpot makes it way up there, very exciting. But at the same time, I think $10 - 40 million is a huge amount of money as well, so I am okay with seeing someone win that, especially beating 120 million to 1 odds to do it. As for the states making less than expected, unless you work for the lottery or state, it's hard to be sympathetic toward them. Quote: Originally posted by T... [ More ]

Comment #6

Todd — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 20:25:30 GMT

tg636: The states make much less money when the jackpots stay small. Sure, they make money, but less than what big multi-state games are supposed to make. In that case, as RJOh said, it's time to change things up.If you're looking for a lotto game that has frequent winners, that's what your state's Pick 6 game is for. The big multi-state games are there to have big rollovers and big jackpots.

Comment #5

tg636 — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 19:48:38 GMT

Well, lucky for the winners obviously, but I also meant just random chance. If states are going to have a game that isn't rigged, streaks of both winning and not winning go with the territory. I don't think JQP is luckier than the states - even if there was a winner every time, there would be millions of losers out there, but the states make money on even the lowest of jackpots.Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on March 16, 2005Quote: Originally posted by tg636 on March 16, 2005If that's the cas... [ More ]

Comment #4

RJOh — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 19:31:39 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by tg636 on March 16, 2005If that's the case, then it really is luck, so it doesn't follow that they must increase the odds Lucky for who? The States didn't create the lotteries for J.Q. Public to get lucky, when J.Q.P. is getting luckier than the States, it time to change odds.RJOh

Comment #3

tg636 — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 19:18:43 GMT

The article seems to be saying that ticket sales are down 20%, but at the same time there have been more winners than usual. If that's the case, then it really is luck, so it doesn't follow that they must increase the odds when the amount of winners are against the odds as it is.

Comment #2

MPJO — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 18:12:01 GMT

I have heard that in July 05 they will be making matrix changes.What the changes will be to the matrix Im not sure. So stay tuned and maybe you will win the jackpot by then and you won't have to wonder what they will do with the matrix.

Comment #1

Blalron — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:02:07 GMT

When are they going to change the matrix already? Sheesh. We need a more decent person than Jack Whittaker to hold the honor of largest jackpot winner, and at this pace it doesn't look like that's going to happen soon.

Streak of jackpot winners is bad luck for Powerball lottery sales

Lottery Post — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 15:45:00 GMT

Sales of Powerball lottery tickets across the nation are down drastically in recent months. The reason: People are too frequently beating the odds, which happen to be 1 in 120.5 million.In the past 12 weeks, players have won a record five Powerball jackpots, none larger than a mere $41 million.The streak of luck has meant the jackpots don't roll over enough times to build the huge prizes of $100 million or more. It's those giant amounts that bring out the lines of people who don't normally pla... [ More ]