Texas lottery players want to get rid of 'bonus ball'

Comment #15

CASH Only — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 18:35:44 GMT

Wasn't Bonus Lotto a $2 game? I also had read that if you did not win the jackpot, you had to match the Bonus Ball to win (eg 5/6 plus BB won $50,000; match 5/6 but not BB won _nothing

Comment #14

konane — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 13:23:30 GMT

That's the problem in a nutshell.

For any new game concepts lotteries need to have focus groups, input from a wide demographic base, or even simple questionnaires on site like Powerball did in order to find out what grassroots players really want.

If players get what they want, they will play more which makes it a win/win for everyone.

Comment #13

sirbrad — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 10:28:18 GMT

Great, not get rid of the powerball bonus ball while you are at it, and go back to 53 balls. That way everyone still has a 0000000.1% of winning.

Comment #12

LOTTOMIKE — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 09:09:04 GMT

states are getting too greedy.

Comment #11

JimmySand9 — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 07:08:29 GMT

I appreciate the insight, but I never remember seeing any bonus balls on the old results page.

Comment #10

NoCompLotto! — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 05:45:38 GMT

Bonus Lotto worked like this:

In most respects, it was like any other normal 6/47 game... match the first 6 and win the jackpot. The reasons why it flopped:

1. The seventh number, or bonus ball, was not allowed to be chosen - only 6 numbers showed up on your ticket. People did not like this at all.

2. In previous formats, Match 5 of 6 was a set $2500. With BL, 5/6/0 was changed to a pari-mutuel prize, hovering around $250. The 5/6/1 (in other words, 6 of 7) paid out a pari-mutuel prize... [ More ]

Comment #9

JimmySand9 — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 04:48:17 GMT

If they could only draw Super Kansas Cash with balls, then it would definately be high up there on America's best game list.

Comment #8

whitmansm2 — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 04:35:03 GMT

Oh BTW Cashonly.....You have to take the win in a lump sum!

LOL

Comment #7

whitmansm2 — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 04:34:06 GMT

In Ks, we have a 1/32 and a bonus ball 1/25. Of course the minimum is $100K, but the odds are better and they play it 3 times a week. Why get rid of it? We have PB, and I play it, but the odds are WAY higher.

I like having a local game.

Comment #6

LckyLary — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 03:51:33 GMT

It seems in states that joined Mega Millions or Powerball, their state lotto lost sales and jackpots rarely reach $10 million. Most people don't care if the odds are a factor of 10 worse, as long as the jackpots are a factor of 10 bigger. States with Mega Millions or Powerball should drop their local Lotto games completely and that would put even more $ into MM/PB jackpots.

Comment #5

JimmySand9 — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 03:43:12 GMT

Explain how Bonus Lotto worked. From what I heard and seen on the MI Lottery website, it was just a 6/47 game. What was different about it

Comment #4

liberal47 — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 02:24:32 GMT

LOL! They tried that game here in Michigan and called it Bonus Lotto. It lost money for the state, big time. It was hated so much that the players took to calling it BONE-US Lotto! Thank God they reverted to the regular lotto 6 47 format.

Comment #3

CASH Only — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 19:28:26 GMT

I agree with going back to the 6/54 (the original 6/50 is too small IMHO). Texas is also correct in dropping the bonus ball (there is no 0+1 prize in the current game, unlike MM).

Comment #2

Just6ntlc — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 18:29:11 GMT

It was until May 2002 when Lotto Texas introduced the bonus ball because they think more people would play and get big jackpots. Lotto Texas with a bonus ball had 37 rolls at one time and had a $145 million jackpot one time. I wish that Lotto Texas goes back to a 6 number format, but increase the odds of winning the jackpot only. I think Lotto Texas should either had kept the 6 number format when they had joined Mega Millions. When will Lotto Texas take out the bonus ball and go back to 6 number... [ More ]

Comment #1

konane — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 15:57:57 GMT

The idiot who made the present system ... should be fired for his/her arrogant stupidity, wrote Paul Ferreira of Grand Prairie.

Larry Powell of Dallas came at the issue from an opposite point of view, but arrived at pretty much the same conclusion.

I don't know who came up with dropping the bonus ball, but I say let's run 'em for governor, Powell wrote. It's the best idea for the state since paving the roads.

When Lotto debuted in late 1992, players selected six numbers from 1 thro... [ More ]

Texas lottery players want to get rid of 'bonus ball'

Lottery Post — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 15:23:59 GMT

Players are letting the Texas Lottery Commission know in sometimes blunt and colorful language that they want the bonus ball to be bounced out of the Lotto game.

The panel that oversees lottery operations is expected to vote next week on a proposal to return the game to a format resembling the one that was thrown out a little more than three years ago because officials were concerned about its profitability. But they ran into a problem when the new game proved to be about 30 percent less pr... [ More ]