Too many players winning Powerball, lottery says

Comment #18

gvpazkn — Fri, 08 Apr 2005 00:18:44 GMT

IT'S ALL ABOUT GREED!!!! These PB states have to meet their budgets and are just not smart enough to devise new plans to raise money. So......they opt to shaft the current players, hoping they will spend more in search of that allusive jackpot. Not this player! I will stick with the realistic odds of Pick3 Pick4.

Comment #17

CASH Only — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 15:00:30 GMT

I keep saying DE should join Hot Lotto (or Lotto South).

Comment #16

ineed9million — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 21:09:42 GMT

Yeah, I can only imagine Delaware having their own jackpot game. Who's up for a starting jackpot of 25,000

Comment #15

Maverick — Thu, 24 Mar 2005 02:28:11 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by CASH Only on March 23, 2005Mega Millions and PB are much better than NY Lotto 6/59 (terrible lower-tier prizes) and Mass Megais bad$ (still annuity-only).We've been down this road so so many times. The odds alone tell you you're more apt to hit NY Lotto than PB or MM!And come on, who cares about winning smaller prizes. Play Take 5, pick 3/4 games for that. Damn I sound like a lottery director lol.

Comment #14

RJOh — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 20:21:40 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on March 23, 2005Quote: Originally posted by golotto on March 23, 2005A random game like Powerball, with it's current matrix, might begin a record setting jackpot run at any time. States and casinos that make their money off gambling don't like the word might, they want a steady flow of predictable income and they'll change the rules to make that happens.RJOhHow did I do that? At 3:00 pm, I quoted a remark from a post made by golotto at 3:02 pm. Did I see two m... [ More ]

Comment #13

golotto — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 20:02:42 GMT

I agree with prof McCullough. We might have 20 jackpot wins this year. Yet, changing the matrix might not be necessary. A random game like Powerball, with it's current matrix, might begin a record setting jackpot run at any time. Conversely, it might have a series of frequent jackpot hits as we have recently been experiencing. It's all random and this summer we might also be discussing the Powerball record breaking jackpot that has just been set.

Comment #12

RJOh — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 20:00:04 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by golotto on March 23, 2005A random game like Powerball, with it's current matrix, might begin a record setting jackpot run at any time. States and casinos that make their money off gambling don't like the word might, they want a steady flow of predictable income and they'll change the rules to make that happens.RJOh

Comment #11

weshar75 — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 19:34:26 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by tg636 on March 23, 2005>They also need to change the current lame rules regarding record jackpots.What are the lame rules?The lame rule is the match 5 bonus rule that once the jackpot hits the record it goes up in 25 million increments and the rest is used to be divided in amongst the 5+0 winners. So instead of 100 grand you will get like 500 grand or 1 million. It acts like a cap on the jackpot and it is a stupid idea because I like the biggest jackpots as possible... [ More ]

Comment #10

tg636 — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 19:12:23 GMT

>They also need to change the current lame rules regarding record jackpots.What are the lame rules

Comment #9

CASH Only — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 14:46:23 GMT

Mega Millions and PB are much better than NY Lotto 6/59 (terrible lower-tier prizes) and Mass Megais bad$ (still annuity-only).

Comment #8

dvdiva — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 06:05:31 GMT

Well changing hot lotto to a 6/49 format would fix that.Powerball has been adding states but doing nothing to address that. They also need to change the current lame rules regarding record jackpots. If they want to keep their current game it would only tick off the current member states as they look at the falling sales. I just wonder if they have had any meetings with the current states about the status of the game and any possible changes.

Comment #7

ryanm — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 03:49:19 GMT

Many states with Powerball aren't large enough to have their own rolling jackpot games, and the few that do rarely, if ever, see a jackpot at $10 million from their own games. Heck, most of those in-state lotto games don't even see a $5 million jackpot.

Comment #6

Maverick — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 23:45:23 GMT

''The expectation that they'll wind up with 17 winners this year because they've got 12 so far assumes that the process is linear and it's not. It's random,'' said Bruce McCullough, an associate professor at Drexel University. ''This could be the year they'll have 20 winners -- and there's nothing they should do about it. It's entirely possible they would be changing to fix a problem that doesn't exist.''I agree.Simple answer. Boycott PB and MM. Play your states lottery (especially when the jack... [ More ]

Comment #5

ryanm — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 18:20:35 GMT

Yeah, but if Mega Millions changes the odds, they'll have higher jackpots and even less people will play Powerball. I myself have played Powerball only once since the beginning of the year because Mega Millions and even the Illinois Lotto have had larger jackpots.

Comment #4

tg636 — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 17:24:01 GMT

How does that follow? Any MM change would be because CA TX have been added.Quote: Originally posted by CASH Only on March 22, 2005If Mega Millions is making the jackpot even harder to hit soon, PB needs to do the same.

Comment #3

CASH Only — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 16:47:57 GMT

If Mega Millions is making the jackpot even harder to hit soon, PB needs to do the same.

Comment #2

tg636 — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 15:40:34 GMT

>One expert says changing the game might be unnecessary. ''The expectation that they'll wind up with 17 winners this year because they've got 12 so far assumes that the process is linear and it's not. It's random,'' said Bruce McCullough, an associate professor at Drexel University. ''This could be the year they'll have 20 winners -- and there's nothing they should do about it. It's entirely possible they would be changing to fix a problem that doesn't exist.''I agree with this. Powerball's Stut... [ More ]

Comment #1

CASH Only — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 14:38:56 GMT

PB began in 1992, not 1996, when the Big Game started.

Too many players winning Powerball, lottery says

Lottery Post — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 12:21:24 GMT

The agency running the Powerball lottery might decrease the odds of winning the multimillion-dollar jackpot to stem a record-setting run of winners that is keeping jackpots small and, the agency says, causing ticket sales to plunge.

To some extent, you try to ride it out. But I think we'll need to make some changes to the game pretty soon, said Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Urbandale, Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs the game. We'll lose more than $400 milli... [ More ]