Balancing Odds and Cost 

Reply #38

Stat$talker — Wed, 06 May 2026 11:20:11 GMT

I'm a two dolla balla .

Soundz like a reeeaaal familiar dialect ..

Reply #37

KY Floyd — Sat, 02 May 2026 09:51:05 GMT

The odds of getting 5 out of 58 are 4,582,116 and they don't change just because there is a Millionaire ball.

Do any of those 4,582,116 possible ways to match 5/58 allow you to match the 6th ball? If so what portion of the 4,582,116 possible ways to match 5/58 win 2nd place instead of first place?

they say the wealth hardly gets down to the 3rd generation.

It should be fairly obvious that a lot of people can squander enormous amounts of money. I don't imagine it helps if you're bor... [ More ]

Reply #36

JustMaybe — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 01:18:05 GMT

That's an interesting way of looking at it, regardless of the odds, we go for what has the most financial value.

Reply #35

JustMaybe — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 01:14:07 GMT

That is very true, they say the wealth hardly gets down to the 3rd generation.

The smart multi millionaires and billionaire of this life go to South Dakota and Wyoming and open 1000 years Dynasty Trusts with very specific instructions on how the money gets dolled out.

No one has access to the money to spend it down, they get allowances based on the directives of the grantor.

Reply #34

JustMaybe — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 01:03:26 GMT

Those are truly noble causes and I commend you for the same.

I would not spend the winning on Mansions and such, nor would I be giving anyone $100M to spend.

On the other hand, I would also not give it all away to charity

Reply #33

winterbird — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:37:02 GMT

No one values the money they didn't scratch, hope, and pray for themselves

Reply #32

ScratchJack — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:36:38 GMT

I go for whatever has the truly life-changing amount of money. 10 mil you can retire on, 2 million you'll run out and have to keep working.

Reply #31

GiveFive — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:25:45 GMT

Generational wealth is all well and good, but studies have shown that only ten percent of the time does Grandpa's money make it to his grandkids.

Grandpa's adult children have a knack for going through his money like a hot knife through butter. G5

Reply #30

winterbird — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 21:10:50 GMT

If I ever win something that big, most of it would be used for or left to grassroots causes. Spread out over things like a food pantry, a cat rescue, after school activities for underprivileged kids, senior care, dog shelter, and so on. All of those community needs that don't get funding because it doesn't make money for the already wealthy.

Friends or family would get something, just not like 100 mil. No one needs that kind of money, including myself. What I see in big jackpots isn't a big... [ More ]

Reply #29

JustMaybe — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 20:34:10 GMT

When I think of winning any life changing jackpot, I do wonder sometimes what the impact of that could be to my siblings, kids, nieces, nephews and the like.

Will it make them lazy, make them not try harder in life or push some more, will it make them feel entitled.

When sitting on more than $100M, invested wisely, all those people may not need to work. They can live a comfortable life and just draw 4% of the returns forever and the pot will keep on growing.

Those are very tough conv... [ More ]

Reply #28

GiveFive — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:02:21 GMT

What I'd like at this stage of my life is generational wealth. (That's what I meant by That would include both present and future members of my family )

My wife and I are retired and today we have a good quality of life but we're by no stretch of the imagination wealthy. We had a nice quality of life while we were working too. Hopefully what a big win would do for us is set up our kids and grandchildren with the same quality of life we had during our working years and still enjoy today. G5... [ More ]

Reply #27

JustMaybe — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 01:49:49 GMT

Those that have wealth have certain options/flexibility living their daily lives that are unavailable to those without wealth.

I find it strange when those with immense wealth are the ones with the least freedom , always pursuing more wealth.

Winning a life changing sum would definitely set me on a different life trajectory.

Good Luck to Us

Reply #26

GiveFive — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:45:29 GMT

I think you hit the nail squarely on the head when you wrote The freedom that comes with a win.....

To me personally, winning a life changing amount of money represents freedom that I currently don't have. Those that have wealth have certain options/flexibility living their daily lives that are unavailable to those without wealth. It isn't so much what would I buy with it? Rather it's more how can having wealth serve me and my family best? (That would include both present and future members... [ More ]

Reply #25

JustMaybe — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:55:23 GMT

I believe some of it goes to good causes that the lottery supports. That way the pot is not growing indefinitely in the background. My thoughts

Reply #24

JustMaybe — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:48:10 GMT

It doesn't hurt to aim for the $10M, regardless of what people say, it's still a life changing sum of money.

Reply #23

Tucker Black — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 03:40:12 GMT

Agreed. But this is not a 5/58 game. It's 5/58 plus one of five.

If you add together the probabilities of first and second prize, you get 1 in 4582116.

Reply #22

Think — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 01:39:47 GMT

The odds of getting 5 out of 58 are 4,582,116 and they don't change just because there is a Millionaire ball.

Reply #21

JustMaybe — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 23:37:55 GMT

A lot of players talk about or are thinking about value when buying a lottery ticket. That's fine if that's important to a player.

Given the odds of winning any jackpot, the value is always a negative.

I respect the length people go to when calculating that value it would be interesting to see the same approach towards the purchase a pack of cigarettes or beer

When I buy tickets all I'm thinking about is What could/would I do with it if I won a big pile of money?

I am with you... [ More ]

Reply #20

Tucker Black — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 21:38:03 GMT

The money sits there waiting for someone to win it in a future drawing. It doesn't increase because double play does not have a progressive jackpot contribution. That's why it's only $1 rather than $2.

Reply #19

Justing618 — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 21:15:58 GMT

From what I gather. It's drawn from a different machine. So I see it as 2 completely different games. But I get what your saying. And yea.... I'd be irate. Bht I just can't justify playing a second drawing with the same odds for a way smaller jackpot. Just my opinion.....

Reply #18

Justing618 — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 21:13:11 GMT

How does it stay in the prize pool And the prize stays the same. Never increases.......

Reply #17

Tucker Black — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 20:48:51 GMT

And it's a lump sum of $10 million, not this annuity nonsense with its 50% haircut.

Reply #16

Tucker Black — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 20:46:23 GMT

Where does that money go if no one wins?

It stays in the prize pool.

Reply #15

Tucker Black — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 20:42:00 GMT

Yes, those odds are correct. You can only win one of the prizes (the highest one for which you qualify).

I see you're trying to calculate the last one. 58 choose 5 is 4,582,116. However, in order to win the second prize, you have to not match the millionaire ball. There are 5 of them, so the probability of not matching that is 4/5.

1/4582116*4/5 equals 1/5727645

Reply #14

winterbird — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 19:32:04 GMT

The thing about it is though, what if you're checking your PB numbers and you didn't win... but double play drew them.

Reply #13

Justing618 — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 17:38:18 GMT

I skip the double play option. The odds are the same as the powerball. But I do get the bonus multiplier. And speaking of the double play. Where does that money go if no one wins

Reply #12

Think — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 16:44:32 GMT

Are those really the odds?

They calculate those claiming you might win another prize.

If they are going to calculate them that way then why don't they add not making it to the store to buy a ticket into the mix?

Or how about the odds of skipping 3 miles to the store while pharting Yankee Doodle in the key of C before you buy the winning ticket?

58C5 = 4,582,116 then they go through the gymnastics of saying you could win another prize to come up with the posted odds.

Reply #11

HoLeeKau — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 16:38:22 GMT

I almost always play double play. The way I figure it, it's just a dollar for a chance at $10 million.

Reply #10

Stat$talker — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 15:28:02 GMT

but the official PB rules do say that if there isn't enough money available to cover the total amount won, then the second place prize becomes parimuteul

Soundz like just anutha option LOz keep open az a way to screw the players even mooore..

Reply #9

GiveFive — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 13:38:39 GMT

A lot of players talk about or are thinking about value when buying a lottery ticket. That's fine if that's important to a player.

As for me personally, because of the ridiculous odds against players, I don't give value any thought at all. When I buy tickets all I'm thinking about is What could/would I do with it if I won a big pile of money? I know and accept the fact that I'll probably never actually have the pleasure of making that decision.

My attitude is if I don't win, it's no bi... [ More ]

Reply #8

JustMaybe — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 01:57:11 GMT

Where I live we don't have the double play option, but when I travel somewhere where it's offered, I always play it.

The 10M double play jackpot is very elusive, but doesn't hurt to give it a shot.

It's apparent l, so far, that even with the better odds, MFL is not the favorite option

Reply #7

hypersoniq — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:09:55 GMT

For the value, PB at $4 for my 1 ticket is better because you get to add the multiplier and the double play as opt in add ons, not forced. Even for a week...

$10 for MM, one line, one draw, two drawings

$12 for PB , one line, two draws, three drawings

$35 for M4L, one line, one draw, seven drawings

I am sticking with the PB. I did like the old cash 4 life at $2, could care less about the M4L, I don't even bother tracking the history.

Reply #6

JustMaybe — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 22:27:36 GMT

Last summer I was in Texas for vacation, I bought a 15 draw Texas Lotto ticket, the jackpot was in the 30M range. I did not win the jackpot .

But you are right, at $1 a draw even with the odds it feels ok. Where I live the state doesn't tax the lottery, so a 1M win would be 630K, which is a very decent win.

I add the extra $1 for the power play to make it 1,260,000 after taxes, now that sounds very good

Good luck on your upcoming draws and Happy Birthday in advance.

Reply #5

rcbbuckeye — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 21:58:06 GMT

I usually play Tx Lotto, but it was won recently, so I switched to PB. My biggest complaint on Lotto is the odds are incredibly high, 1 in 25,827,165. But, a ticket is only $1. The odds for 2nd prize on PB are a little less than half that of Tx Lotto.

At my age, 72 next month, $1 million (approx $630,000 after fed tax) will do me just fine.

Reply #4

JustMaybe — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 21:47:48 GMT

The idea of pursuing a second place win is also appealing to me. I do play MM once in a while, however most of the time I end up with a X2, so that kind of annoys me when am getting the X2 for $5. I can get that for $3 with PB.

But sometimes the thought is, I could get a X10 and win the second prize. Then $5 would not feel expensive for that.

I hope they only had X3 and above, then that would make more sense.

Reply #3

JustMaybe — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 21:42:39 GMT

I appreciate the principal in choosing to play what did not go up in price.

However, lately everything seems to be going up in price, the only difference being that most of those items one does not have a choice but to buy them regardless, gas for example.

But I recognize that for the lottery it's not a must purchase and one can choose not to buy if the price is not favorable.

Reply #2

GiveFive — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:49:38 GMT

PB but I play for a second place win...I couldn't care less what the jackpot is. I add the The PowerPlay option too. I also play five lines with the first 5 numbers being identical, and each line has a different PB number on it. I could win 10 million doing that if I matched all five white balls.

Yes, that's crazy because it amounts to 15 bucks for buying what's almost the same line five times. But then I'd trade MUSL 15 bucks for ten million. This isn't something I do regularly. I do it wh... [ More ]

Reply #1

winterbird — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 19:56:40 GMT

Powerball. I'm a two dolla balla. Sometimes $3 if I'm feeling spicy and adding double play.

I wouldn't reward the increases in price with my $5 even if I had money to spend freely. It's also the principle of the thing, and choosing to pay for the one that didn't go up in price while not giving a sale to the one that did.

Odds aren't good for any of them. I get a powerball once in a while as a dream and a what if. I can do that twice at $2/3 rather than once for $5.... [ More ]

Balancing Odds and Cost 

JustMaybe — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 19:35:09 GMT

The odds of winning the second prize on the games below are as follows:

Powerball - 1 in 11,688,053.52 . A $2 wager will win you 1M and $3 wager will win you $2M

Mega Millions - 1 in 12,629,232 . A $5 wager may win you between $2 and $10M

Millionare For Life - 1 in 5,727,645 . A $5 wager will win you $2.2M.

Based on the above odds and cost , what game would you play