Why Powerball?

Reply #24

NeedyNotGreedy — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 19:51:24 GMT

It's easier to win 1 thru 68 than 1 thru 75: PB wins

It's easier to win 1 thru 15 than 1 thru 26: Mega wins

It's easier to win a 5/68 and a 5/75 than even a 6/45: both mega and power beat the Overall odds of the average 6 number state lottery.

Overall odds: Sucks

Reply #23

KY Floyd — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 00:49:48 GMT

Finally someone sees the light.

It's just elementary school math, but you have to take the trouble to pay attention to it. I think most people just don't bother. I understand that when it's the occasional player, but not when it's people who go to the trouble of posting to a website about the lottery. Even stranger when it's somebody who specifically claims that they understand the odds. Case in point:

50,000 tickets containing all five winning numbers change the practical Jackpot odds t... [ More ]

Reply #22

rcbbuckeye — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 13:15:43 GMT

It is to me.

Reply #21

Kingofearth — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 04:21:33 GMT

$6 times 52 equals $312 a year. That's not chump change

while i'd be extremely happy at winning $15 million, the odds make it so difficult to even win a lower tier prize that it isn't worth it to bet my limited funds on a jackpot that won't even get any real coverage.

Reply #20

rcbbuckeye — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 19:43:11 GMT

Point taken.

Still, for $6 a week, $1 MM, and $2 PB, again chump change, why not be in both games.

The odds on both games are stratospheric.

Reply #19

Kingofearth — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 18:06:30 GMT

Apart from the 540 Million dollar jackpot last summer, when was the last time MM exceeded 400M? That's why I almost always play PB.

I do agree with the OP though that when the jackpots are nearly even it's better to play MM.

Reply #18

winoneday — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 12:19:00 GMT

Not true!

Spend $2 on Mega Millions and your odds of hitting 5+0 is 1 in 9 million.

Spend $2 on Powerball and your odds of hitting 5+0 is 1 in 11 million.

Why do so few people on this site understand odds

Reply #17

weshar75 — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 04:59:35 GMT

Fja's graphic goes to show why I play powerball more because you have a better chance at hitting the 5+0 prize on powerball than mega millions.-weshar75

Reply #16

winoneday — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 02:15:50 GMT

I know how to easily reduce the Powerball odds by just over half. Buy 2 Mega Millions tickets in place of 1 Powerball ticket.

And besides, it is impossible to do what you propose you can do.

Reply #15

lucky1day — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 01:37:15 GMT

Let me see!!!

50,000 tickets containing all five winning numbers change the practical Jackpot odds to 1:1,300,000. If you don't know how to reduce your odds, that's your problem not mine.

Reply #14

winoneday — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 01:13:02 GMT

When my workout is finished, I'm left with about 50,000 tickets which contains all five white balls on a pretty regular basis. For me it's just a matter of time.

Thanks for providing evidence you do not understand odds.

Reply #13

lucky1day — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 00:37:15 GMT

@ winoneday - Well, the odds doesn't really matter for me. When my workout is finished, I'm left with about 50,000 tickets which contains all five white balls on a pretty regular basis. For me it's just a matter of time. I'm pretty certain that people here understand odds, but simply choose the game that they enjoy playing the most. In other words, keep your insults to yourself.

Reply #12

winoneday — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 00:25:50 GMT

Thanks KY Floyd. Finally someone sees the light.

It makes no sense to buy Powerball tickets when the Mega Millions jackpot is so large. And yet, more money is being spent on Powerball than Mega Millions.

I can understand in the past why it happened since states either offered one game or the other and never both. But now, almost every state offers both games.

Reply #11

KY Floyd — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 00:12:52 GMT

Yeah, that 3rd place prize is a better deal. For every other prize MM is either a much better bet or very nearly the same.

That $4 PB prize is only 7% better than the $1 MM prize. You're only about half as likely to win it, and if you do win it you'll have paid twice as much for the chance.

Spend the same $2 for MM tickets as you do for one PB ticket and you're 26% more likely to win the $1 million 2nd place prize.

The same $2 spent on MM would make you 2.26 times as likely to win the n... [ More ]

Reply #10

Groppo — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 04:49:23 GMT

.

To: WINONEDAY,

I can relate to this response, to your question.

Reply #9

winoneday — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 18:29:03 GMT

It appears very few people understand odds. Strange given this is a lottery discussion group and the main difference between different lotteries is the odds.

Reply #8

wander73 — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 15:20:17 GMT

I see you answered your own question.

Here is my problem with the lotteries. If it isn't broken why fix it? Because they see profit and more money. The powerball was awesome years ago. then when they did the format of the powerplay the game was more exciting. As soon as they raise the ticket price $1 more and now you have to pay $3 if you can figure out the right random number generator and computer then you're set.

When the powerball is up there lets say over $200 million I mig... [ More ]

Reply #7

winoneday — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 15:14:06 GMT

No I did not.

Reply #6

Redd55 — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 12:10:17 GMT

MM reset in January while PB reset in February. MM has about a 1 month head start on PB. You will now see the PB over take the MM jackpot

Reply #5

fja — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 11:12:11 GMT

Bigger Prizes and more Chances at the top 2

46 lottery States

2016

5+1

5+0

Jackpot

5+0

name

Hits

Hits

$$$

$$$

Mega Million

8

141

$1,165,000,000

$141,698,351

Power Ball

7

297

$3,569,000,000

$280,709,231

Ttls 2016 to date

15

438

$4,734,000,000

$427,007,539

46 lottery States

2017

Reply #4

lucky1day — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 01:44:27 GMT

Simple:

Mega ball: $1

Powerball: $4

Mega: 4 white balls plus bonus =$5000.00

Powerball: 4 white balls plus bonus =$50000.00

The payout for an extra dollar is worth it for me.

Reply #3

GeneralMac — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 00:48:08 GMT

You answered your own question in your last paragraph.

Reply #2

rcbbuckeye — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 23:36:36 GMT

Because even at $2 a ticket, I can retire on the jackpot. And even if I only hit second prize, at my age, it sets me up for retirement.

So, $2 is chump change, and despite the odds, it's worth it.

Reply #1

Todd — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 23:12:00 GMT

Why Powerball?

winoneday — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 22:26:29 GMT

For those players buying Powerball tickets, please take a moment to explain why. The Mega Millions game has currently about the same size of jackpot, tickets are half the price of Powerball tickets and the odds are better.

I know many people are buying Powerball tickets because the jackpot is growing faster than the Mega Millions jackpot.