Powerball Matrix Change - April 15, 2015

Reply #227

weshar75 — Sun, 12 Jul 2015 21:16:02 GMT

I am not a fan of the change but what do you do. You can boycott the game or play when you like so since I only play $2 to $3 a drawing I will continue to do so. In hopes of win the million or two million prize. Good luck to you!-weshar75

Reply #226

POMAH — Sun, 12 Jul 2015 20:28:01 GMT

These changes are pure insanity! I was playing $2 PB for $1m after NY SM went bust. but no more PB for me; I aint even touching MM no more.

I might go back to C4L now.

I'll stick with T5 for $50k easy, or QD or Win4 instead of such long $1m odds!

Not surprised why so many play scratchers instead, the lottery killed all the games

Reply #225

Redd55 — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 03:00:10 GMT

After the changes are enacted, the odds of winning the jackpot which was a record $590.5 million in 2013 will increase to 1 in 292,201,338, up from 1 in 175,223,510. The odds of winning $4? That will improve from 1 in 111 to 1 in 92. The new rules will take effect with tickets purchased starting Oct. 4 for the Oct. 7 drawing.

Pathetic...

I will buy a ticket when the jackpot reaches astronomical levels only. Living in Calif, the 5/6 prize is usually well below $1 million and the chance... [ More ]

Reply #224

maringoman — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 15:52:54 GMT

Playing 5 lines won't help, so scratch that mess. It's 1 line for me until I get tired of losing money then it'll be adios.

Reply #223

jujubees — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 13:57:16 GMT

raising thresholds and increasing prices of games is what makes their sales drop off. i play less p-ball since it increased to 2 bucks. plus i dislike the 8th 9th prizes being the same. if the 9th prize is 4 bucks and the 7th prize is 14, the 8th prize should be 9 bucks. its so hard to win even the teeniest prizes as it is.

Reply #222

RJOh — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 23:58:53 GMT

This will no doubt cause some of the smaller states ....................................to maybe decide they need to tell MUSL to take a hike.

State might do that if they didn't see so many of their players making road trips to the other states to play these games. Ohio tried to buck the trend for a couple of years after PB and Big Game came out but Ohioans were going to neighboring states to play them and leaving their tax dollars in those states too when they won jackpots so after a while... [ More ]

Reply #221

bobby623 — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 18:06:24 GMT

One has to wonder why this thread is still active!

Face it, lotteries are in business to make as much money as possible without fear of being arrested for felony theft.

Motivated by greed, MUSL called a meeting and asked members to come up with a plan to

increase profits, knowing of course that the only way to do it was to make the game harder to win.

The only way to do that is to add more numbers to the existing matrix, thus, 5/69.

However, the plan also included provisions to ma... [ More ]

Reply #220

RJOh — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 14:11:42 GMT

With new matrix playing all 26 bonus numbers would guarantee $0.08 per dollar spent, that's only $0.07 when playing all 15 mega balls. The new matrix will change playing strategies.

Reply #219

RJOh — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 11:56:06 GMT

This change will put the odds of winning $1M more in line with MM changing the odds from 1:5.1M to 1:11.7M which should make it easier on the states.

Reply #218

maringoman — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 20:48:22 GMT

Good people I just received a letter from Mass Lottery confirming the coming changes. They will start Wednesday October 7, 2015.

The new matrix will be 5/69 + 1/26

Same price. $2

All prize levels remain the same except the Match 4+1 prize increases from $10,000 to 50,000 cash.

****************************************************

I say it's now or never if you're trying to match 5+0.

28 draws remaining until the game goes to Hell.

Until that day I'll play 5 lines ev... [ More ]

Reply #217

Coin Toss — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 19:08:04 GMT

Thanks again for the info. Lotto Metro.

Everyone here with a system or believes that there can be a system for a 5 + 1 game needs to make this their mantra:

MUSL projects that the change will result in an increase to revenues of more than 40% versus current trends. They also expect average hit jackpots to be just over $300 million with 10-11 hits per year

Silver Lion,

If everyone on LP boycotted PB do you really think the MUSL would feel it

Reply #216

maringoman — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 21:39:20 GMT

MUSL boo

Reply #215

yellowpig — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 00:58:24 GMT

i see they made the odds even worse than the earlier draft but at least they kept the $4 for the most common prize - want to see the finalized rules eventually

Reply #214

SilverLion — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 00:55:01 GMT

Ok LP. Time to remind MUSL who is boss.

We have to listen to JJ and BOYCOTT POWERBALL

Reply #213

LottoMetro — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 00:39:48 GMT

So the new PB specifications were finalized earlier this month, and indeed they are targeting an October launch. MUSL projects that the change will result in an increase to revenues of more than 40% versus current trends. They also expect average hit jackpots to be just over $300 million with 10-11 hits per year.

We'll see.

Reply #212

RJOh — Sat, 06 Jun 2015 13:03:43 GMT

A 6/48 + 1/20 would have odds of 1:245,430,240 for the jackpot which is fine but the second prize would have odds of 1:12,917,381 which are more than twice what the odds are now. What would be more attractive about that?

They probably want the game to better a little harder to win to have more time to roll larger jackpots but still attractive to the present players.

Reply #211

Murgatroyd — Sat, 06 Jun 2015 01:14:24 GMT

There are all sorts of fun possibilities. 6/48+1/21 would give very close to the same jackpot odds as MM (1 in 257,701,752). Or 6/48+2/7 has those same odds, and would allow for some real redesign of the prize structure for nonjackpots.

Reply #210

Think — Sat, 06 Jun 2015 00:21:02 GMT

I'm a little surprised they didn't bust a move and try a different matrix instead of just being a Mega Millions clone.

They could have at least considered 6/48 and 1/15 thru 1/20 depending on how they wanted the odds to go.

Reply #209

RedStang — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 17:24:20 GMT

They might have to raise the matrix to 100 since it was hit with less then half the tickets MM sold.

Reply #208

RJOh — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 12:49:48 GMT

All the game results for the games I play are on the Ohio's website, so when I check one it's easy to update the rest.

Reply #207

Toronto — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 05:53:36 GMT

Time to change the matrix. Too few $300m+ pots (1 a year?). Takes way too long to accumulate. Need to combine into 1 national game so as to not divvy up the sales.

Reply #206

SilverLion — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 01:30:27 GMT

Colored balls would be awsome!!! They have lots of colored balls in Europe

Reply #205

Murgatroyd — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 00:47:46 GMT

It's a bit counterintuitive, but more players for MM probably reduces the chance of jackpots growing ever larger.

More players = more tickets sold for each drawing = higher chance of a winner in any given drawing = fewer expected rollovers before someone wins.

On the other hand,

More tickets sold = more money goes into prize pool = larger jackpot increase per rollover.

I haven't done any rigorous calculations, but I'm pretty sure the first factor outweighs the second.

Reply #204

KY Floyd — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 23:40:03 GMT

That is really intellectually dishonest debate

I can see how you might think that since you've got no understanding of it at all. As for insulting you, I'm sorry that an accurate description of reality doesn't flatter you.

Reply #203

MaximumMillions — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 23:35:23 GMT

The odds are abysmal and yet it's twice as expensive as MM. I foresee a lot of PB players swinging over to MM. MM might just get it's first billion dollar jackpot. Maybe they should double their wager. :D

Reply #202

LottoMetro — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 21:55:10 GMT

As I've written many times, more value will generate more sales. If the overall payout was increased from ~50% to around 70%, that would allow for much better payouts across all tiers, increasing player loyalty.

Slowly but surely the lotteries will come to their senses. Coincidentally, there was a discussion about payouts at Smart-Tech this year, and several officials admitted that eventually they will have to raise payouts beyond the standard 50% to continue retaining player interest.

Reply #201

str8ca$hhomie — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 17:43:05 GMT

RJOH,

RULE # 1

Keep your Powerball and Mega Millions files close and your State's Pick 6/49 Game files closer.

Reply #200

RJOh — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 16:56:07 GMT

I always keep the files of the games I might play updated even if I don't play them. My Ohio's Classic Lotto(6/49) file is updated to its last drawing on Monday 06/01/2015 and ready for duty and since its jackpot's at $5M/$2.5 cash I may play ten lines for it instead of 5 lines for PB.

Reply #199

str8ca$hhomie — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 12:42:16 GMT

UPDATE YOUR HISTORIC STATE LOTTERY FILES

THE

PICK 6/49 GAME WILL RISE AGAIN

Reply #198

RJOh — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 11:23:19 GMT

PowerBall and MegaMillions was suppose to attract more players for states other games. With a matrix change as some have shown state games like Ohio's Classic Lotto should attract more players when its jackpot is over $4M with odds of 1:14M since most players will choose to wait until those games jackpots roll to a more appropriate size jackpot for their odds.

Reply #197

Ron5995 — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 10:53:17 GMT

On the positive, the second chance game is gone and 2nd place prize is left the same.

On the negative, there's a lot! Odds are even more insane with even less value than before. Heck, they might as well double the price again to $4 while they're at it with $5 for Power Play. Those who always play will likely continue to regardless of the odds and price, but the casual player, for which the game relies on for building outsized jackpots will increasingly stay on the sidelines.

These changes... [ More ]

Reply #196

RedStang — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 05:30:28 GMT

It looks like their desperate and trying everything to make this successful. They might as well throw in some colored balls and really confuse everyone. If they take away the 2mill second prize that i always play for then i probably won't play every draw.

Reply #195

LottoMetro — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 03:50:52 GMT

So based on my initial calculations, the cash jackpot in the new PB matrix would have to be $262 million for the equivalent of $150 million in the current version. I must say I am not very impressed. While they increased the 3rd tier prize, all other prizes have remained the same yet suffered increase in odds (with exception to the bottom two tiers). I had high hopes for the proposal of including the multiplier on every regular ticket, but it looks like now they are just increasing the odds la l... [ More ]

Reply #194

LottoMetro — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 23:23:57 GMT

So I followed up on this and Texas has apparently published the proposed rule. I believe they are the first to publicize the latest changes.

Powerball matrix slated to begin October 7, 2015 (subject to change):

Match Odds (1 in X) Prize % of Prize Pool

5 of 5 + PB 292,201,338.00 Grand Prize 68.013%

5 of 5 11,688,053.52 $1,000,000 8.556%

4 of 5 + PB 913,129.18 $50,000 5.476%

4 of 5 36,525.17 $100 0.274%

3 of 5 + PB 14,494.11 $100 0.690%

3 of 5 579.76 $7 1.207

Reply #193

bobby623 — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 23:06:08 GMT

It's official!

New PB game begins Oct. 7.

Matrix is 5/69 + 1/26

Details posted at the Texas Lottery website.

Lot of changes to the multiplier.

Same price: $2

Reply #192

RJOh — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 12:38:00 GMT

But some think if things were that simple they would have won by now inspite of the odds of them winning being 1:275M, after all they have brought a ticket every drawings for the last couple of years.

Reply #191

Coin Toss — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 06:44:11 GMT

I guess some here would say that the Powerball winners from Puerto Rico in February and April are just an urban legend.

Reply #190

Murgatroyd — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 01:33:03 GMT

The odds that the larger state will have a winner are better. The odds for any single player are the same, no matter which state they're in.

Reply #189

LottoMetro — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 01:03:24 GMT

Well, hopefully the MUSL members have made up their minds. The matrix posted at the start of this thread was official, drafted in the rules of several states, and even published in major industry publication...but as you can see, it has hardly materialized.

I have also 'heard' from one commission that the game won't be launching with the new matrix until 2016; however, I actually don't believe the ailing jurisdictions would wait that long to make a move, so I think October is the best bet now... [ More ]

Reply #188

Dakota — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 00:56:54 GMT

5/69 + 1/26 is what its changing to and prizes--information not stated yet by TLC.

Reply #187

zephbe — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 00:09:54 GMT

If a state sells 5000 tickets and another state sells 25000 tickets--the odds of a player in the larger state hitting the balls in the air machine are better. If a person in the smaller state lucked up and picked the same numbers manually-yes he/she could win--but what is the probability of that happening

Reply #186

Think — Sun, 31 May 2015 21:23:01 GMT

Powerballs problem is with the way they bundle their tickets. Powerball is $3 per ticket and they don't give you much choice on the bundle.

What they need to do is make it a $2,$3,$4 or $5 dollar per ticket game.

2 for the regular ticket and then players choice of a dollar each on a bigaplier, smallaplier, extra jackpot.

With the Bigaplier multiplying either just 2nd prize or 2nd and 3rd prizes depending on the math

Smallaplier multiplying 3rd or 4th through bottom prizes... [ More ]

Reply #185

pickone4me — Sun, 31 May 2015 16:06:08 GMT

That is really intellectually dishonest debate, while you still continue to insult my intelligence because I refuse to buy the official story or buy the lottery faq's When I see the odds of probability defied, again and again, there is nothing wrong with questioning what is happening. If it makes you feel better to insult me, so be it, don't expect me to respond back.

Reply #184

LottoMetro — Sun, 31 May 2015 14:39:24 GMT

There's no free lunch. Anything that improves the lower tier prizes, whether it's better odds or increased prize value, comes from harming the jackpot. Whether it's slower growth or worse odds, the jackpot becomes less valuable as the lower tier prizes become more valuable.

Which is why the lower tier prizes are not becoming more valuable; compare the prizes offered by the matrix on the first page to the currently-drawn one. They are making the prizes less valuable in $ terms to compensate f... [ More ]

Reply #183

KY Floyd — Sun, 31 May 2015 09:26:08 GMT

it isn't actually random then.

Do you think that it's possible to randomly roll a single die and get a 7 or do you recognize that 0% of the rolls will result in a 7 because 0% of the sides of the die have 7 pips? If you removed half of the hearts and half of the diamonds from a deck of cards would you still expect that a randomly selected card has a 50% chance of being red, or can you wrap your feeble intellect around the idea that because there are fewer red cards there's less chance of ran... [ More ]

Reply #182

KY Floyd — Sun, 31 May 2015 09:23:08 GMT

they are not improving the prize value of the lower prizes but merely improving the odds of winning them...without harming the amount of sales or capacity for size available for large jackpots.

There's no free lunch. Anything that improves the lower tier prizes, whether it's better odds or increased prize value, comes from harming the jackpot. Whether it's slower growth or worse odds, the jackpot becomes less valuable as the lower tier prizes become more valuable.

I might tell myself, $3... [ More ]

Reply #181

RJOh — Sun, 31 May 2015 05:42:11 GMT

If you live in a smaller state where people seldom win MM or PB and you want to win a lottery--play a game with better odds--like a pick 5 or cash 5.

Are you saying the odds of winning a MM or PB jackpot are different for players in smaller states? How is that possible since the drawing results aren't limited to combinations only played in the larger states? If that was true then all players from smaller states would have to do is play combinations that are usually played in the larger state... [ More ]

Reply #180

zephbe — Sun, 31 May 2015 05:11:18 GMT

Every ticket has the same chance of winning because balls are blown around in an air machine and any of them can pop up. The more tickets a state sells, the more likely a winner will be in that group of tickets. That is why you can expect more winners from states with larger populations.

If you live in a smaller state where people seldom win MM or PB and you want to win a lottery--play a game with better odds--like a pick 5 or cash 5. Or play your numbers for a longer period of time and hope... [ More ]

Reply #179

LottoMetro — Sun, 31 May 2015 04:09:04 GMT

Have you tried calling them to have your concerns addressed?

(414) 276-3122

Reply #178

pickone4me — Sun, 31 May 2015 03:59:08 GMT

Speaking of strange definition of random, you mentioned this earlier: When six states sell almost half of all tickets, probability says you can expect almost half of all winners to be from those six states

That doesn't sound like every ticket has the same chance of winning.

Reply #177

LottoMetro — Sun, 31 May 2015 03:22:17 GMT

That's exactly what Kansas and one of the vendors said at Smart-Tech, that players who never win anything will eventually give up. What you're saying doesn't contradict my post. However, studies have shown that lottery players do not distinguish between odds of 100 million or odds of 200 million when it comes to mega jackpot games. It is all a longshot and the media constantly reminds them of how they will never win. But their eyes are only on the prize. Have players stopped playing Mega Million... [ More ]

Reply #176

Think — Sun, 31 May 2015 01:18:44 GMT

Hmmm....how do I get my point across...

How about this...

If you have been pushing a boulder up a hill for 30 or 40 years trying to reach the top and the hill just keeps getting higher and higher the longer you push wouldn't you learn your lesson and just quit pushing

Reply #175

Murgatroyd — Sat, 30 May 2015 21:46:29 GMT

You seem to be using a very strange definition of random . My definition is every ticket has the same chance of winning . What's yours

Reply #174

pickone4me — Sat, 30 May 2015 21:23:36 GMT

Then there is a big problem, it isn't actually random then. They should branch off a seperate powerball for those six states, and change up the matrix to make it harder to win anything.

Reply #173

Murgatroyd — Sat, 30 May 2015 19:59:20 GMT

The odds of probability are NOT consistently beaten. When six states sell almost half of all tickets, probability says you can expect almost half of all winners to be from those six states.

Reply #172

psykomo — Sat, 30 May 2015 18:05:46 GMT

LM:

............rather, they're giving back small amounts more often to encourage higher play at all jackpot levels .

yes.....beware U sharks out DARE !!!

THey're CHUMMING UR WATER AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN GAIN

Reply #171

LottoMetro — Sat, 30 May 2015 16:46:34 GMT

The consensus @ Smart-Tech (Kansas aside, I think) was that nobody cares about smaller prizes and they only play for the jackpot in games like PB and MM.

However, if you won your money back in the last draw, wouldn't you be more inclined to play again this drawing? That's the idea. They're not taking away the big jackpots that everybody plays for; rather, they're giving back small amounts more often to encourage higher play at all jackpot levels.

It has nothing to do with fooling players i... [ More ]

Reply #170

LottoMetro — Sat, 30 May 2015 16:42:46 GMT

The reality is that they can't offer significant lower tier prizes with decent odds of winning and still generate huge jackpots in a reasonable amount of time.

Correct, which is why they are not improving the prize value of the lower prizes but merely improving the odds of winning them...without harming the amount of sales or capacity for size available for large jackpots. I actually think the fact that the rumored revised matrix has worse jackpot odds yet better overall odds than what was p... [ More ]

Reply #169

pickone4me — Sat, 30 May 2015 15:36:47 GMT

It isn't my fault that the lottery is screwing themselves, because the same places often win. When the odds of probability are consistently beaten, then there is something going on behind the curtain that needs to be checked. The fact that you can't debate honestly, and have to insult me, doesn't help your cause, nor the lottery.

Reply #168

KY Floyd — Sat, 30 May 2015 15:30:13 GMT

It actually makes sense

I'm sure it makes sense to the kind of thinkers who came up with MMC and the previous powerball failure with odds in the 1:250 million range. Of course that's not surprising when their overlords insist that income always has to increase. The reality is that they can't offer significant lower tier prizes with decent odds of winning and still generate huge jackpots in a reasonable amount of time.

I'm sure that every player is happy when they win their money back or g... [ More ]

Reply #167

pickone4me — Sat, 30 May 2015 15:22:16 GMT

Here is a better system, let the places that often win ( not a conspiracy theory, it is technically a conspiracy since it can be proven by the winners page ) have their own lottery, and have a separate one for the states that haven't won in 3 plus years. That may help save these types of lottery games.

Reply #166

Coin Toss — Sat, 30 May 2015 15:21:28 GMT

...players only wait for the bigger jackpots because they know they won't win any of the lower prizes. True

So those at the Smart Tech lottery conference and pickone4me want the players to believe that their chances of winning a jackpot are better than hitting a lower prize?

Those running the lotteries see something like that and go

Reply #165

Original Bey — Sat, 30 May 2015 14:07:37 GMT

There is much validity in your claim. While the regular/seasoned player recognizes that anyone can win regardless of when and where he plays, the casual player is more prune to buy into the conspiracy theories. Until the MUSL can motivate this category of players, the games will continue to struggle with respect earning more revenue year over year. In fact, the games will see a decline respectively. Proof of this lies in the fact that people travel miles to buy tickets to stores that have produc... [ More ]

Reply #164

bobby623 — Sat, 30 May 2015 14:02:57 GMT

According to a reliable source in Texas, the new Powerball matrix will be 5/69 + 1/26.

This information was released at the Texas Lottery Commission Thursday.

We will have to wait until the meeting minutes are published to learn more.

Reply #163

pickone4me — Sat, 30 May 2015 13:51:12 GMT

players only wait for the bigger jackpots because they know they won't win any of the lower prizes. True

So the idea is that by improving overall odds, this will encourage player retention at the lower jackpots. I wouldn't bet on it!

It actually makes sense, but I still don't think it will solve jackpot fatigue. No it doesn't. I have explained what is causing that jackpot fatigue, the same places winning consistently, that is where your problem is.

Reply #162

Think — Sat, 30 May 2015 03:41:03 GMT

I have been playing in four decades now and I have yet to win anything decent let alone a jackpot.

All the time I have been playing they have just been making it harder and harder to win the jackpot. If I wanted the smaller prizes I would just quit and save up the money....so guess what...when those jackpot odds get worse again I'm quitting and I will have all those small prizes I'm saving up from not playing

Reply #161

LottoMetro — Sat, 30 May 2015 03:01:55 GMT

If they don't change the matrix, then at least one or more jurisdictions will leave the game. This is a fact; one that has been conveyed to me by higher powers numerous times, so I don't doubt that they are going to make a change. The question is when, and how drastic. I've heard from a non-commission source that the final matrix will actually feature odds worse than what I've posted in this thread. I can't confirm that at this point, but it is possible that they are trading worse jackpot odds f... [ More ]

Reply #160

RedStang — Sat, 23 May 2015 05:11:45 GMT

100$ says they don't do it. Raising the matrix won't guarantee bigger jackpots. MM already proved that. If it does grow it's because no one is playing.

Reply #159

rcbbuckeye — Fri, 22 May 2015 02:09:08 GMT

Looked at the agenda for TLC's meeting next week and they are going to talk about changes to PB.

We shall see.

Reply #158

noise-gate — Fri, 22 May 2015 01:06:04 GMT

They can make all the changes they want. ....After l win it

Reply #157

LottoMetro — Thu, 21 May 2015 23:26:15 GMT

So it looks like July is almost certainly ruled out now. October is what I am being told now. Still fuzzy on whether drastic changes will be made to the proposed matrix.

Reply #156

haymaker — Sat, 16 May 2015 17:59:32 GMT

I just picked up 10 advanced draws in Delaware, so I guess we're OK til. 6/17 anyway.

Reply #155

RJOh — Sat, 09 May 2015 18:42:34 GMT

It may not appear broken to you but when states consider the odds of them paying out a million dollar prize compared to the odds of doing that for other games they may have a different opinion.

MM = 1:18.5M

6/49 games = 1:14.0M

PB = 1:5.4M with $2 ticket 1:10.8 per dollars spent

Reply #154

mypiemaster — Sat, 09 May 2015 16:40:13 GMT

If it's not broken, don't fix it.

Reply #153

LottoMetro — Sat, 09 May 2015 14:30:35 GMT

Should be hearing some very soon.

On a side note, I've gotten a better clarity on the timeline and decision to delay the matrix changes; it was initially delayed ONLY because of the MMC failure. I think I said previously that it was awfully coincidental and my suspicions were confirmed. Officials publicly claimed the delay was to make tweaks etc. but that is false. Now they are considering delaying the changes AGAIN because of the 2nd chance confusing players (as posted above).

I think the... [ More ]

Reply #152

maringoman — Sat, 09 May 2015 13:41:05 GMT

Any news

Reply #151

ThatScaryChick — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 20:54:10 GMT

All of this sounds like a lottery soap opera. So much drama and they can't make up their minds on what they want to do.

Reply #150

Think — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 20:44:53 GMT

After what happened with Hot Lotto I can see why they would not want to be associated with PowerBall.

As for the new Multi State game I hope the odds and prizes are decent. Maybe some day they may even split up the power plier into a Big-a-plier for Second prize (or maybe second and third prizes) and a small-a-plier for Fourth and lower prizes (or maybe third and lower prizes).

That way the player can decide if the odds warrant spending an extra Dollar or Two to go for the bigaplied

Reply #149

LottoMetro — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 14:03:32 GMT

Well I doubt this game will go through as what we've seen here. The PB matrix change was suspended because it was too confusing for retailers to explain to players (hmmm...sound familiar?). Until they make it simple, like current and past formats, it will not get much support.

Going back to my mention of one (or more) jurisdictions leaving Powerball, I have a little more info on that. There are currently several lotteries quietly developing their own new multi-state jackpot game for the fall... [ More ]

Reply #148

IPlayWeekly — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 15:48:55 GMT

I also agree, I stopped playing mega millions because of the change and I will do the same if this goes thru. For the few weekly winners (5 balls) they are still making a ton off us.

Reply #147

LottoMetro — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 22:58:45 GMT

Yes, right now MUSL is targeting July. I honestly don't see them waiting beyond that. Tiny probability they might, and decide to swing for an October launch, as they tend to do launches in the fall. But the game's sales probably aren't going to improve much better between now and then, and the new design is basically done as far as the changes go. They've been done for awhile, but decided to make a few more tweaks to 2nd chance. Now it's just about getting everyone to agree with the changes. The... [ More ]

Reply #146

bobby623 — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 22:51:41 GMT

Here is an extract of comments made April 9 by a lottery official who was briefing Texas Lottery Commission members

on addition of a new draw game:

... MUSL was working to propose changes to the Powerball Game. So

from fall until just about now, there's been ongoing

discussions in the industry in preparation for a new

version of the Powerball Game, and that game was

originally anticipated to be starting right about now,

right in the spring of 2015. That game has been... [ More ]

Reply #145

Think — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 14:25:37 GMT

Q. When is $40 Million not enough?

A. When you are not sure what the government is going to do with taxes you can't figure out whether to take the cash or annuity.

certainly it would be a nice annuity if the tax system didn't keep changing and getting worse. Does anyone on here know if

The 3.8% Obamacare tax surcharge applies to the lottery annuities?

A. The lump sum for $40 million after taxes is chump change considering you are beating

once is several lifetime odds. IE the... [ More ]

Reply #144

LottoLucy — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 23:53:33 GMT

You are welcome!

This is from the Illinois Lottery Powerball FAQ page:

Why Can't I Buy A 52-Week Or 26-Week Subscription For Powerball Anymore?

Your favorite game is getting even better! The Powerball game will be changing in the near future. We are temporarily suspending Powerball 52-week and 26-week subscription purchases until the game changes take effect. You can purchase a 13-week subscription or one of our other multi-play options. More details on Powerball changes will be... [ More ]

Reply #143

LottoMetro — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 22:16:49 GMT

They delayed it after reading the responses in this thread and especially those in the MMC threads. Just kidding

You can read about the delay from April to July here: http://www.lafleurs.com/assets/LaFleursMagazineOnlineJanuaryFebruary/index.html#16

I don't know if Illinois had released the timeline for subscriptions/advance draws to their retailers before the delay was made, but I know Virginia and Florida did. Some states have actually already approved the new rules, just waiting on MUS... [ More ]

Reply #142

Think — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 18:58:09 GMT

Matrix change = quitting time

Reply #141

butch2030 — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 18:24:23 GMT

Thanks for the info. I went to the Illinois site, but could not find anything relating to the matrix change. I am from IL I went to where I buy my tickets they were not aware of any pending change to the Powerball.

Reply #140

LottoLucy — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 18:17:21 GMT

It was fact. In fact, I remember seeing several lotteries (Flordia and Illinois come to mind) that had either stopped their subscriptions or announced a step down in their dates for advanced draws earlier this year.

If you read through all of the posts in this thread you will see that the states decided to postpone the change due to the whole monopoly draw game debacle. The last thing I saw was that they were now thinkng of a July timeframe for the change.

Thanks to LottoMetro for keeping

Reply #139

butch2030 — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 17:28:32 GMT

There has been no announcement of a Poweball Matrix change -- So is this 4/15/2015 change FACT or Fiction????? To me it looks like it is Fiction..............

Reply #138

gy65 — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 02:29:09 GMT

the main problem is there are just too many lottery games period. MM, PB, a plethora of state level games like Cash 5 etcetera with new state games being introduced all the time, Pick 3 and 4, All or Nothing, scratchers

Interesting sales stats in the packet for state lottery commission meetings.

Arizona example . . 70% scratchers . . 30% draw games (14% Powerball . . 6% Mega Millions) . . source.

Reply #137

RJOh — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 01:53:20 GMT

I was wrong, there may be time to win another PB jackpot before the matrix change.

Reply #136

million0914 — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 22:44:27 GMT

It is good to know that somebody in this forum has enough disposable income to be able to spend $100 a week on lottery tickets.

I spent $150 once on The Big Game (Mega Millions' predecessor) in New Jersey, before the game was available in New York. Otherwise, I don't even remember the last time I spent $100 on lottery tickets in a year.

Anyway, I haven't played in so long because I haven't felt lucky. And looking back over the past nine months, I see that I haven't missed out on any net pr... [ More ]

Reply #135

THRIFTY — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 22:54:39 GMT

Are you saving the money to buy $5,200 worth of lottery tickets

Reply #134

million0914 — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 22:47:57 GMT

As long as you are not doing anything illegal to obtain the $2 necessary to purchase a Powerball ticket, you have the freedom to play whenever you want. I have the freedom to have the minimum that I have as well.

Good luck to you and all of the lottery players out there. I haven't played any lottery games in over nine months.

Reply #133

Groppo — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 19:32:14 GMT

Why would I want to scream?

It's lotto. We play it voluntarily.

Find a number set or sets to play. And play them consistently - every week, both lottos.

Reply #132

RJOh — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 19:07:34 GMT

If it's true then this PB jackpot may be the last one to be easily won, so all you hopeful potential winners better get busy. Good luck.

Reply #131

rcbbuckeye — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 02:02:48 GMT

Your state lottery website should have all the gory details for MM and PB. I assume you live in MI, being a Detroit Lion fan.

At any rate PB jackpots start at $40 million annuity, which would be approximately $25 million cash value. Increases by at least $10 mill each roll if no one wins it. When it gets higher, as around $100 million, it will increase more than $10 each roll. Did you watch PB when the jackpot was over $500 million and won by three winners in February

Reply #130

DetroitLionBoy — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 00:49:29 GMT

whats the starting jackpot? and how much does it increase by

Reply #129

rcbbuckeye — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 00:39:49 GMT

The matrix hasn't changed yet. It was scheduled to change, but MUSL has put it off until around July, if then.

I don't know about you, but even the starting jackpot is worth a $2 bet for me. I don't care what the odds are at this point. It only takes one tic.

Reply #128

million0914 — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 21:00:14 GMT

The Powerball jackpot of February 11 was $564.1 million annuitized. With the new odds being close to 1 out of 286 million per game, the per dollar odds are actually close to 1 out of 572 million. The February 11 jackpot was less than the per dollar odds of the new Powerball game.

Being a dollars must be greater than the per-dollar odds person, I wouldn't play the new Powerball at that February 11 jackpot amount.