mega millions vs. powerball

Reply #35

pigsNtrees — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 21:13:37 GMT

MM has a better pay-off than PB. Also here in Texas we have the multiplier.

Reply #34

JimmySand9 — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 04:38:07 GMT

Powerball. Because it has the Powerplay and it's slightly easier to win and you get more on the smallest tiers.

Reply #33

LOTTOMIKE — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 04:34:14 GMT

looks like i might get some mega million tickets online for this friday......

Reply #32

awwcrap — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 05:11:03 GMT

If the megamillions goes over a 100million, its worth a 2hour trip to illinois-visit the home state...

Reply #31

ryanm — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 21:28:08 GMT

Yeah, it seems the games have reversed in that way this year. Last year, Powerball set a record for most number of jackpot wins in one year since 1997, while Mega Millions tied its record for least number of jackpots awarded in a year. This year, Mega's getting the jackpot wins while Powerball's getting the long runs.

Reply #30

csfb — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 17:35:48 GMT

I used to like powerball better. Now, I'm beginning to like MM. Why? Because the MM jackpot has been won 6x this year already, whereas PB, just 3x. I like it when there are more winnners.

Reply #29

guesser — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 17:14:53 GMT

I don't care if the jackpot is 10 million or 400 million, either one would be fine with me, compared to not winning at all.

Eight people won the 380 million in Nebraska in February I think, when it was all said and done, each one of the 8 only got 15 million.

120 million out of 380 million. 260 million to taxes. What a joke. But 15 mill is better than zero mill, I guess. I'd take it.

I play PB because it's what we have here.

Reply #28

spy153 — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 16:02:19 GMT

I know I would. I might stay away from it all together.

Reply #27

ryanm — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 15:54:25 GMT

If they did that, lots of players would stay away from the low jackpot levels, especially if the number of combinations went over 200 million.

Reply #26

Rip Snorter — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 13:04:18 GMT

Lessee. $50 M annuity probably comes out around $25 M cash value. Minus maybe another 50 percent taxes, so the real, spendable value of a $50 M prize works out to maybe $12 M.

$12 M.

I'm trying to recall what's the most money I ever had in my hand or my bank account in my life, free and clear, no strings. In dollars, not investments, vehicles, gadgetry.

Unless I'm mistaken it was something in the neighborhood of $60K. Seemed to me at the time I thought it was a middling amount of mo... [ More ]

Reply #25

LOTTOMIKE — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 05:52:34 GMT

lets just hope they don't go raising the matrix again so soon.......

Reply #24

ryanm — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 05:46:12 GMT

Mega Millions got hit again at a low jackpot level ($34 million annuity, $19.3 million cash). That's the fourth time its cash jackpot got hit under $50 million.

Reply #23

Rip Snorter — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 01:58:07 GMT

No. But I think they ought to adjust all the state boundaries in such a way as to make both easily available to all players by only driving a short distance. Increase the number of states 10 fold or so to accomodate better consumer access to the lotteries.

Failing that, I think they ought to abolish both and go back to mob-run numbers games.

Jack

Reply #22

LOTTOMIKE — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 17:23:08 GMT

i agree ryanm........

Reply #21

ryanm — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 03:37:23 GMT

I highly doubt Mega Millions states allow one to remain unidentified either.

Reply #20

Shane3 — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 18:25:32 GMT

Absolutely Megamillions......Powerball in DC does not permit me to remain unidentified.

Reply #19

ryanm — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 23:09:07 GMT

Well, what do you expect? Most of the lotteries that play Powerball aren't strong enough to have a rolling jackpot game on their own, unlike the Mega Millions lotteries. The reason Powerball was originally formed (as Lotto America) was to unite some small lottery states together to compete with the big lottery states' rolling jackpot games. The reason Mega Millions was formed was because Powerball worked too well and was starting to drain money from the big state lotteries.

Reply #18

pumpi76 — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 21:11:32 GMT

30 plus something states all for a measly 15 million or on average 50 million dollars...

...... Keno is el diablo cazador de hombres ........you can't see it...................and it skins them................. from movie Predator ...........

Reply #17

pumpi76 — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 08:51:01 GMT

I don't like any of them...they are not a tri-state games.....you are going to tell me that ough of the 30 plus state they play on only 1 jackpot winner is selected....

Keno is el diablo cazador de hombres ...............you can't see it................and it skins them.......................... from movie Predator ..........

Reply #16

ryanm — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 01:54:09 GMT

Yeah, Mega Millions need roll only once and its jackpot is not "guaranteed," while Powerball needs to roll twice to be non-guaranteed. It is more likely someone will win a guaranteed Powerball jackpot than a guaranteed Mega Millions jackpot, yet it has not happened yet in either game since the new matrices. Mega Millions was hit after one roll one time though.

Reply #15

Prob988 — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 01:27:01 GMT

Megamillions gives a higher cash value, and rises faster in real terms, but the odds against winning are much longer.

I live in a border area and can play each game. I play according to the expectation value, which is a value of the prize divided by the odds against winning it, adjusted for the likely numbers of winners and potential prizes. Like all gamblers, I accept to play at an expectation value of much less than one, but even I have lower limits. (In very large jackpots, the expect... [ More ]

Reply #14

ryanm — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 00:43:17 GMT

Upping the matrix without adding new states is a gamble, since it usually results in players buying less tickets when the jackpot is $100 - $200 million, making it take more rolls for a record jackpot. On the one hand, that does increase the game's chances of rolling over on any given draw, but on the other hand, it has to survive more draws to get to a record. The Powerball officials just got lucky.

Reply #13

chasingadream — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 00:33:31 GMT

its hard from me to win anything off PB. The most I have ever won is $23 off a multi draw ticket and that was bout 6yrs ago. I usually come up with about $40 a month on MM so my vote is with MM.

I will also agree with an earlier post that MM needs to come up with some kind of change for higher jackpots. The PB matrix seems to be working in their favor.

Reply #12

Ladyluck2005 — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 22:19:02 GMT

I went with Powerball because thats the one I'm used too the one that is in my state. I'm sure if I lived in a MM state I would say MM.

Reply #11

Tnplayer805 — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 20:14:51 GMT

It's funny. In GA Rebecca Dropped powerball for what is now known as MM. Then she went to TN and started PB there. Funny how that worked. But anyway... I like both MM and PB. I choose to play both and not one has stood out over the other for me.

Reply #10

konane — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 15:33:15 GMT

Have always liked Powerball better, therefore it's a tad easier for me to predict numbers for that game. Pity Georgia dropped it not quite 10 years ago.

Reply #9

Rip Snorter — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 13:20:50 GMT

Six of one and half-dozen of the other.

If they'd (rightfully) move the boundary of Texas to include the eastern half of New Mexico so's to bring Mega Millions just over that mountain pass from me I'd be making a bi-weekly trip over to get tickets, same as I now go downhill a dozen miles to get Powerball.

Jack

Reply #8

delS — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 12:20:27 GMT

I like them both for various reasons; however, I voted for Mega-Millions because of the cash value it gives players. If the both had a jackpot at $200,000,000 (or any amount, $200m is just an example), I'd walk away with more money with MM as opposed to PB. I'm fortunate to be geographically situated where I can and do play both weekly. I am one of probably few lottery players who play these two lotteries exclusively. Only occassionally will I buy scratch offs. But, my whole rationality say... [ More ]

Reply #7

ryanm — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 16:35:14 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by bellyache on June 3, 2006I picked Powerball, because it's the one I play in my state.

Me too, although I voted "not sure," because both games usually have heavy jackpots, although since the latest matrix changes, Mega Millions has been won three times when the cash jackpot was under $50 million while Powerball has had only one cash jackpot under $50 million awarded.

Reply #6

Just6ntlc — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 16:23:08 GMT

My vote is for PB only because PB set the new North American Jackpot record. If PB hadn't set that record, my vote would have been MM because CA has MM.

Reply #5

bellyache — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 15:50:42 GMT

I picked Powerball, because it's the one I play in my state.

Reply #4

Coin Toss — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 14:25:47 GMT

Let's see, odds of 140,000,000 to one for the jackpot vs odds of 176,000,000 to one for the jackpot....

Reply #3

spy153 — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 14:24:57 GMT

I picked MegaMillions because it has a higher jackpot cash value compare to Powerball. Besides, I haven't been winning anything on powerball lately. Not even a lowly $3.

Reply #2

pumpi76 — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 08:29:47 GMT

I like powerball better...

Keno is el diablo cazador de hombres .......it kills people and you can't even see it....... .....from movie Predator ....

Reply #1

LOTTOMIKE — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 07:17:11 GMT

i like mega millions but it not having the multiplier like powerball probably works against for those who like to powerplay the numbers.

mega millions vs. powerball

LOTTOMIKE — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 07:15:52 GMT

which game do you think is better and which one would you play if given the choice and why