Powerball/Mega Milions JackpotsPrev Topic Next Topic

New Topic New Poll

Should Powerball and/or Mega Millions raise the starting jackpot to $20 million?

Yes.

[ 18 ]

[ 64.3% ]

No.

[ 10 ]

[ 35.7% ]

Total valid votes

[ 28 ]

Discarded votes

[ 1 ]

RJOh

100

mid-Ohio
United States
Member #9
March 24, 2001
20,272 Posts
Offline

Jan 31, 2005, 7:37 pm

Quote: Originally posted by dvdiva on January 31, 2005

While I agree that players can wait for a larger jackpot is the way to go, waiting for 3 years is a bit much (the last time a jackpot was 300 miilion).

If you're waiting for a lottery jackpot of $300M, you've got a long wait and you won't play very often.
RJOh

* you don't need to buy every combination, just the winning ones *
dvdiva

United States
Member #2,338
September 17, 2003
2,063 Posts
Offline

Feb 1, 2005, 3:01 pm

No kidding. Considering the odds it's too long of a wait
twisted

New Jersey
United States
Member #2,376
September 25, 2003
582 Posts
Offline

Feb 1, 2005, 3:21 pm

Hopefully California will join either PB or MM soon. The commissioners are going to vote on paving the way for California to join a multi-state lottery. (http://www.calottery.com/about/lotterycommission/commissionschedules/050208.html)

Inclusion of California will maybe bring faster increases in the jackpot and maybe even higher jackpots. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
CASH Only

United States
Member #379
June 5, 2002
11,296 Posts
Offline

Feb 1, 2005, 5:51 pm

I would prefer CA joining Powerball because MUSL "requires" that its members allow the cash/annuity choice to be made AFTER winning.
dvdiva

United States
Member #2,338
September 17, 2003
2,063 Posts
Offline

Feb 2, 2005, 2:24 am

I would hope after joining they change the game otherwise they would have to call it the 10 million dollar lottery because that would be the top prize before it's hit.
CASH Only

United States
Member #379
June 5, 2002
11,296 Posts
Offline

Feb 3, 2005, 11:23 am

diva:
CA joining actually would mean more rollover cycles, thus creating more chances for big jackpots.
ryanm

Morrison, IL
United States
Member #4,657
May 13, 2004
1,885 Posts
Offline

Feb 3, 2005, 12:40 pm

Yes, but then they would probably have to jack up the odds to at least 1 in 150 million!
Maverick

USA
United States
Member #8,242
October 29, 2004
1,133 Posts
Offline

Feb 3, 2005, 9:00 pm

Quote: Originally posted by CASH Only on January 31, 2005

I _do_not_ recommend NY Lotto since only 38%-40% is returned in the form of prizes.

You won't give a rats a** about that if and when you win 1st prize
JimmySand9

United States
Member #1,826
July 11, 2003
2,645 Posts
Offline

Feb 3, 2005, 9:56 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Maverick on February 3, 2005

Quote: Originally posted by CASH Only on January 31, 2005

I _do_not_ recommend NY Lotto since only 38%-40% is returned in the form of prizes.

You won't give a rats a** about that if and when you win 1st prize

(insert signature here)
dvdiva

United States
Member #2,338
September 17, 2003
2,063 Posts
Offline

Feb 4, 2005, 1:19 am

Cash: They said the same crap about megamillions when Texas and New York joined mega. In reality more players equalls a smaller average pot. Something the people working at these games fail to realize.
hypersoniq

Pennsylvania
United States
Member #1,340
April 6, 2003
2,580 Posts
Offline

Feb 4, 2005, 7:55 pm

If I am not going to win 10Million or not going to win 20Million, I'd rather go for the 20Million.... BUT, not at the expense of a forced $2 ticket...
$10,000,000 would work for me... If they change it they might go "Pennsylvania" on us and up the price of admission.

Have an EXCELlent day!
Annual Payments

Houston, TX
United States
Member #9,841
December 23, 2004
236 Posts
Offline

Feb 4, 2005, 8:16 pm

Everyone's so against the NY Lotto. I look at it like this: If you don't play, you can't win. If I were in NY I'd play it =)
dvdiva

United States
Member #2,338
September 17, 2003
2,063 Posts
Offline

Feb 5, 2005, 12:33 am

I agree hypersoniq changing the price to $2 is the one thing they should NOT do.
ayenowitall

United States
Member #4,416
April 22, 2004
1,075 Posts
Offline

Feb 5, 2005, 6:36 am

What on earth would the average lottery player even do with 300 million dollars or more? My guess would be that they'd just get themself into a world of problems. Personally, I could do very well on a lot less than even ten million dollars.
If the purpose of games like PB and MM is to have super-sized jackpots, then it's a bit like a dog chasing its own tail. The purpose of the larger jackpots is to draw more players to the game, and having more players means that the jackpot will be hit more often. That means that the average jackpot hit will be lower over time.
I don't think the starting jackpot needs to be raised to $20 million, but if they just want to advertise larger jackpots, they can simply extend the term of annuity payments. That way the current handle would yield a bigger jackpot and any increase in handle would make an even bigger jackpot. While they're at it, they could extend the term of annuity payments beyond the range of human life expectancy so that even an idiot would be forced to take an even smaller lump sum cash option payment.
On second thought, let's not be so greedy.
tg636

United States
Member #972
December 30, 2002
468 Posts
Offline

Feb 5, 2005, 10:57 pm

$10 million is a huge amount of money to me, but I hope the figure realistically reflects sales. It should be a minimum, and raised if sales warrant.
Do I personally need $300 million? No, of course not, no one does. But I would view myself as caretaker of the money and use it to help people, not just to live decadently in the lap of luxury. The world is full of suffering people in awful situations who could really benefit from that money if you felt you won too much.
I am really not concerned that the jackpot reach $300+ million again. If it does, okay that's interesting, but if not so what?

New Topic New Poll

Subscribe to this topic

Powerball/Mega Milions JackpotsPrev TopicNext Topic

Powerball/Mega Milions JackpotsPrev Topic Next Topic