The 29 lotteries that participate in the Powerball game have voted to make changes that will boost the average jackpot size, but also will boost the odds of winning.
Starting Aug. 29, the beginning jackpot will increase to $15 million from the current $10 million, the Multi-State Lottery Association announced Wednesday. The top prize will grow by no less than $5 million between each drawing.
"Lottery games need to be changed from time to time, to respond to both player demands and population changes," said Randy Davis, president of the Louisiana Lottery Corp. and chairman of the Powerball Game Group.
To boost the jackpot size, two numbers will be added to the first pool in the game, meaning players will choose five numbers from one to 55. The current first draw picks five white balls from a pool of 53.
The Powerball is drawn from a separate pool of red balls numbered from one to 42. That will not change.
The larger number of white balls boosts the jackpot odds to 1 in 146.1 million. The current game has jackpot odds of 1 in 120.5 million.
Ed Stanek, Iowa Lottery chief executive and one of Powerball's co-inventors, said the changes are part of a popular product's evolution.
"Players tell us they expect large jackpots in the game and we will continue to deliver those," Stanek said.
The odds of winning a cash prize in the game will increase only slightly, to 1 in 36.60 from 1 in 36.06, lottery officials said.
I like it. No formula is going to make everyone happy, but this suites me just fine. It will only take two draws to increase the jackpot to 25M. An amount that has only been achieved twice this entire year!
i think it will. now that they are raising the starting jackpot, increasing the matrix (even though they should have increased the number of powerballs to choose from), and increasing the minimum rollover, they should have no problem getting the jackpot back up into the $100 million range.
O.K. Now this is a "realistic" proposal. Somewhere between a rip-off (PA Lucky For Life) and a complete bank-breaker (doesn't exist).
5 & Powerball: Jackpot (Of Course)
5 (No Powerball) : $200,000
4 & Powerball: $10,000
4 (No Powerball): $200
3 & Powerball: $200
3 (No Powerball): $10
2 & Powerball: $10
1 & Powerball: $4
0 & Powerball: $3
May I also suggest the removal of the Match 5 Bonus Pool which limits jackpot growth to $25,000,000 per draw. Especially now, considering that with PowerPlay multiplier of x5, matching 5 with no Powerball would still net $1,000,000, and that's every draw.
Quote:Originally posted by JimmySand9 on April 6, 2005
May I also suggest the removal of the Match 5 Bonus Pool which limits jackpot growth to $25,000,000 per draw. Especially now, considering that with PowerPlay multiplier of x5, matching 5 with no Powerball would still net $1,000,000, and that's every draw.
But the Match 5 Bonus has never even been reached. Almost made it twice, but it was hit right before it would have went into effect. Although limits aren't ideal, when you are getting up to $350 Million, I don't think it's such a bad idea. It spreads the wealth around. And goodness, if you can't live on $350 Million vs. say $400 or $450 Million, then you have a serious problem. lol
Quote:Originally posted by smd173 on April 7, 2005
Quote:Originally posted by JimmySand9 on April 6, 2005
May I also suggest the removal of the Match 5 Bonus Pool which limits jackpot growth to $25,000,000 per draw. Especially now, considering that with PowerPlay multiplier of x5, matching 5 with no Powerball would still net $1,000,000, and that's every draw.
But the Match 5 Bonus has never even been reached. Almost made it twice, but it was hit right before it would have went into effect. Although limits aren't ideal, when you are getting up to $350 Million, I don't think it's such a bad idea. It spreads the wealth around. And goodness, if you can't live on $350 Million vs. say $400 or $450 Million, then you have a serious problem. lol
Keep in mind that I'm trying to find something satisfies the lotteries and the players. And big jackpots mean big excitement for players, as well as big profits for the lotteries. The faster it grows, the more exciting the game gets. Anyway, I could live on $4,000,000 (cash, after taxes) easily.
The current odds of 120m-to-1 are depressing as it stands and odds of 146m-to-1 are rediculous at best. Even the Mega Millions is better at 130m-to-1 which has been described as infinitesimal by statisticians. We just got the lottery last year and I was buying 2-20 tickets depending on the pot, but now I will never buy more than a couple at a time and only when the jackpots are 100+ million or I may just play my wife's single number and be done with it. Other than that I plan to pay more attention to the smaller multi-state lotteries (lotto south) that I have a 10x better chance of winning. I would much rather participate in a 10-20 million dollar lottery where buying 10 tickets is equivalent to buying 105 powerball tickets. I hope the powerball officials are not doing this just because the numbers were hit early a few times, because that can happen again at 146m-to-1 and if it does are they going to raise them again. I don't think the public needs to have 200-400 million dollar jackpots to be attracted to the lottery. People buy tickets when they see the jackpot is on the high-side no matter what that may be (it doesn't need to be an astronomical amount).
Quote:Originally posted by tony95 on April 7, 2005
The current odds of 120m-to-1 are depressing as it stands and odds of 146m-to-1 are ridiculous at best. Even the Mega Millions is better at 130m-to-1 which has been described as infinitesimal by statisticians.... I hope the powerball officials are not doing this just because the numbers were hit early a few times, because that can happen again at 146m-to-1, and if it does, are they going to raise them again? I don't think the public needs to have 200-400 million dollar jackpots to be attracted to the lottery.... (it doesn't need to be an astronomical amount).
tony95,
The vast majority of lottery players are largely oblivious to the odds of the games. I can't explain it, but evidently, many players get excited about playing for a super-size jackpot that they have virtually no chance of winning. Longer odds and larger jackpots basically mean that there will be fewer winners less often. Maybe the excitement of that lies in a pathological, selective , euphoric ideation of gambling action. It could be that the vast majority of lottery players just don't care about the odds.
Beyond the entertainment aspect, lottery games aren't a very good bet anyway, and people who don't play tend to think that all of us who do play are stupid fools. Maybe we are foolish for thinking that luck will smile on us in a big way or that we'll be smart enough to beat the odds.
I've been foolish long enough at odds of about 120million to one. When they implement the change to the PowerBall game, I'm switching my foolish allegiance to the 13million to one odds of Hoosier Lotto and LOTTO South.
Well, maybe I'll buy just one Quick Pick on PowerBall when the jackpot gets really big, but I'm not counting on it being very exciting... unless I win.
I just can't see changing the matrix. It is difficult enough now to just win $3....much less the BIG ONE!!!! This is all about GREED from the smaller states. When the jackpot is hit(and just by luck) numerous times over the last 3-4 months..states with small populations lose $30-$50 million/month just in lost revenue, only because the jackpots are not escalating to enourmous amounts. I think this change will "turn off" many players....and like ME, will stick to the smaller payouts, like Pick3 and Pick4. Hey!!! who couldn't use $500 for a straight play on Pick3?? I'll take it any and every day!!!!!!!
I have to believe that there are a lot of people out there who know the odds are very long at 120m-to-1 and this will push them away from the powerball. I doubt that I am much different than any other person as I set a budget for the lottery and try buy my plays toward the back end (after the pot has been built up a bit). If those pots are 50 million dollars or 200 million makes very little difference to the average guy. I am not going to go take out a bank loan just because the lottery has gone 34 plays and is up to 350 million dollars, in fact I will see it as evidence that thing is unwinnable. At 120m-to-1 the powerball seemed to be working very well. The jackpot was being hit about once a month, which to me seems reasonable. Now we are likely not to see a winner for 2 or more months and that does not say good things about a lottery in which so many people participate. And all the powerball officials are offering is a 5 million dollar carrot on the front end which will make almost no difference by the time someone gets around to winning it.
Sorry to rant, but one last reason this change is bad for Powerball. Before the change, Powerball had better odds than MegaMillions (130m:1 vs 120m:1). Now MegaMillions has a substantial advantage (130m:1 vs 146m:1). People on the border may decide to play MegaMillions over Powerball. I won't feel sorry for them if sales drop, especially since this change was motivated by greed on the part of the lottery officials and not on making the game better for the players. They should have left it alone. This has just been a year of disappointments for me, first EA kills the ESPN NFL Football series by purchasing exclusive rights to NFL names and likenesses and now Powerball odds have been jacked up to an insulting level. I mean I could have tollerated a slight increase, but a 21 percent increase in the odds.. please.
good question....by the way i agree with the person who would rather play pick five,i could use 100,000 dollars as much as i could 10 million and by the time i buy ten pick five tickets that would equal buying a hundred powerball tickets to get to the same odds,i ,ight spend one dollar on powerball maybe but my main allegiance will be to games that are winnable on a daily basis like pick 5,a winner won on pick 5 last night in memphis where i live,all the more reason to stick with pick 5....
Quote:Originally posted by LOTTOMIKE on April 8, 2005 good question....by the way i agree with the person who would rather play pick five,i could use 100,000 dollars as much as i could 10 million and by the time i buy ten pick five tickets that would equal buying a hundred powerball tickets to get to the same odds,i ,ight spend one dollar on powerball maybe but my main allegiance will be to games that are winnable on a daily basis like pick 5,a winner won on pick 5 last night in memphis where i live,all the more reason to stick with pick 5....
Keep in mind that the odds of winning smaller prizes are much higher with Lotto 5. They need a Match 2 prize.
Even though they plan to drop two new numbered balls into the mixing hopper on August 29, it certainly won't keep me from continuing to regularly play favorite old number sets. My main concern is the type of drawing conducted regardless of tweaking the odds. I'm just relieved and thankful that Powerball didn't change to computerized draws.
jimmysand i agree,i wish we had prizes for matching two on lotto five but then again that would mean a lot more money they would be paying out and you know how stingy they are with prize payouts......
I just went to the powerball page and noticed that this is not the first time they have made the odds worse. Apparently it started off with 49 numbers. (Click the news and info link, and then click "History of Multistate Lottery Association")
Yes, a few years ago the odds were 80m:1. I wish I had been able to participate in it back then. But they have added many states and thats why the odds have increased. Also, if anyone was wondering or missed it in the article, then new odds are not going into effect until August 29th. So, I have almost four months to play it the way I like it and then I will resolve myself to 1-2 tickets per draw and of course lotto south.
C'mon now. If you're playing at 120m:1, you'll play at 145m:1. The game will be 20% harder to win. Match 5 is 21.2% more difficult: 1:3,478,761 compared to 1:2,869,685, but second prize increases by 100%?? That's a deal! It's still only $1.
You speak as if a 21% increase in odds against winning is no big deal. If that is the case why not just double them. How about 300mil:1? Then we could watch 2-3 winners a year win half a billion dollars or so, thats obsurd. You can already see $100-200 million jackpots with the 120m:1 odds as it happened 5 times last years, so why jack it up just because a few people hit it early this year. And as for a 3.5mil:1 chance of winning $200,000 being a great deal.. this is equally obsurd. Our lotto five just reached $450,000 and the odds on it are only 500k:1. Thats 7 times better than the chance you have to win $200,000 with a Powerball ticket. Of course you can always buy power play, but then you only get half of the numbers for the same amount of money so you reduce your odds of winning by half. People need to face the facts, Powerball is now the worst lottery odds you can playing in America. I will still participate in the Powerball, but I would encourage people not to buy more than 1-2 tickets. Hopefully the Powerball organization will lose money and drop the odds back to 120m:1.
I don't think the increase is a big deal. Where's the cutoff point for you? 138m:1? Is there some magical number where above that line you won't play more than $2?
Powerball is a game of dreams. It's an excursion from my 8-5 job. I'd rather put down $5 for a $500m fantasy than $5 for a $19m dream that is slightly more probable.
I haven't seen anywhere if they changed the lame rules regarding limits to record jackpots. Jag, I wouldn't worry about the whiners. Some people just don't get the concept of multi-state games and big jackpots. The difference between 120 and 146 or even 160 million isn't much. People who don't like odds above 100 million should stick to one state games. Leave the large jackpots to those who want a chance at them. It would be like me saying that pick 3 should be banned. If you don't like a game leave it for people who do.
They are probably not going to get rid of the match 5 bonus rule since they have created it and it has not gone into use yet. I emailed a week ago about getting rid of the rule and they were talking it up but one thing they did say that was interesting is that the record at which match 5 bonus starts is 340 million. But the next time it gets to the record it will be 365 million and then 390 million and so on. So it is not always set at the same start up point. It goes up in 25 million increments just like the jackpot run will once it gets past the record level.
Quote:Originally posted by dvdiva on April 9, 2005
I haven't seen anywhere if they changed the lame rules regarding limits to record jackpots. Jag, I wouldn't worry about the whiners. Some people just don't get the concept of multi-state games and big jackpots. The difference between 120 and 146 or even 160 million isn't much. People who don't like odds above 100 million should stick to one state games. Leave the large jackpots to those who want a chance at them. It would be like me saying that pick 3 should be banned. If you don't like a game leave it for people who do.
I couldn't have said it better myself. Consumer Choice!
Maybe MUSL should create a game with astronomical odds that increase exponentially from draw to draw. That would virtually guarantee an ever increasing super-sized jackpot that would be highly unlikely to be hit. Certainly that would placate all the giant jackpot fans.
JAG,
It was just a mildly sarcastic joke when I made the above comments in another thread. Maybe some lottery organization should really look into starting up such a game. If anyone could hit a billion dollar jackpot in a 300,000,000:1 game, I'm sure it would be you. Dig in and keep firing at 'em. You'll hit big someday.
I suppose that for any given combination of odds and jackpot size, there will always be people willing to play. I just wonder how long it will take for people to start complaining once again that the PowerBall game is broken when the jackpot gets hit at under $146 million.
well that bites... a matrix change means ALL previous data becomes irrelevant (IF you believe history is relevant... I am one that does)... gotta start from square one with everything. (pb red ball data will still count tho)
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..........
so, aug 29th is the end of the 5/53 world.... now we have a deadline.... get crunchin'!
and they better not get any bright ideas about $2 minimum tickets... if they do that they should be boycotted... we already have a pennsylvania for that.
Quote:Originally posted by hypersoniq on April 10, 2005
well that bites... a matrix change means ALL previous data becomes irrelevant (IF you believe history is relevant... I am one that does)... gotta start from square one with everything. (pb red ball data will still count tho)
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..........
so, aug 29th is the end of the 5/53 world.... now we have a deadline.... get crunchin'!
hypersoniq that's probably one of the many reasons they change the games structure. From time to time. Since they receive all kind of complaints that the game is to easy to win because the jackpots didn't grow to astronimical porpotions for a couple months. what's worse is the lottery directors didn't respond corectly about this and should have reported that the few jackpots that were won in the last couple months were basically a fluke. People were fortunate to pick or receive the winning QP numbers to those games. And it wasen't the structure of the game that's at fault.
Don't trash your hard work just yet. It could be a while until they make the changes.
Maybe MUSL should create a game with astronomical odds that increase exponentially from draw to draw. That would virtually guarantee an ever increasing super-sized jackpot that would be highly unlikely to be hit. Certainly that would placate all the giant jackpot fans.
JAG,
It was just a mildly sarcastic joke when I made the above comments in another thread. Maybe some lottery organization should really look into starting up such a game. If anyone could hit a billion dollar jackpot in a 300,000,000:1 game, I'm sure it would be you. Dig in and keep firing at 'em. You'll hit big someday.
I suppose that for any given combination of odds and jackpot size, there will always be people willing to play. I just wonder how long it will take for people to start complaining once again that the PowerBall game is broken when the jackpot gets hit at under $146 million.
Best of luck to you,
aye'
Aye
Jackpot games are fun. They're just plain fun. What could be more exciting than playing for $1 billion? $2 billion of course, but I'll have to wait 20 years for that!
I'm not banking on winning the lottery for my retirement. I'm investing for that purpose. Geez, what I wouldn't give though to pick up about 10 sportscars and a couple of mansions with my millions!
Really though, am I going to win on just plain luck with odds of 120m:1? No. Someone will, but I'd be delusional to think it would be me, unless there's a code inherent to randomness itself that can be found. So what's the harm in odds of 500m:1? I'm still not going to win on sheer luck, and the code, if it exists, will still be waiting to be found out.
So bring on the larger-than-life jackpots, I'll be here to solve the numbers games!
As far as Powerball goes, that's such a wimpy odds increase. It would be justice to see the new game get hit just as often as the current one has the last four months.
Maybe putting $1 on the lottery is a lot like throwing $1 in a sewer drain, except it's more entertaining!
Quote:Originally posted by JAG331 on April 11, 2005
Really though, am I going to win on just plain luck with odds of 120m:1? No. Someone will, but I'd be delusional to think it would be me, unless there's a code inherent to randomness itself that can be found.
Regardless of odds ...why couldn't it be you? All of the numbers on your ticket are in the drawing machine ready and able to be chosen and they might just be the ones that tumble down that chute!
I reckon it could be me, just as it will be someone, dventually. Most PB and MM draws have no jackpot winner. That's millions of losers every draw! Then once in a while, about every 130 millionth ticket, one person wins. You could spend $5 on every Powerball draw for the next 50 years (disregarding price/odds hikes), and still stand only a 1:4,602 chance of cashing in big time.
These games need a system. You need a strong system and good fortune to have any chance. This is why I don't believe in QPs.
Quote:Originally posted by four4me on April 10, 2005
Quote:Originally posted by hypersoniq on April 10, 2005
well that bites... a matrix change means ALL previous data becomes irrelevant (IF you believe history is relevant... I am one that does)... gotta start from square one with everything. (pb red ball data will still count tho)
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..........
so, aug 29th is the end of the 5/53 world.... now we have a deadline.... get crunchin'!
hypersoniq that's probably one of the many reasons they change the games structure. From time to time. Since they receive all kind of complaints that the game is to easy to win because the jackpots didn't grow to astronimical porpotions for a couple months. what's worse is the lottery directors didn't respond corectly about this and should have reported that the few jackpots that were won in the last couple months were basically a fluke. People were fortunate to pick or receive the winning QP numbers to those games. And it wasen't the structure of the game that's at fault.
Don't trash your hard work just yet. It could be a while until they make the changes.
Well, unfortunately, the main purpose of a lottery is to raise money for states, and if jackpots stay small, the money stays in people's wallets.
ryanm wrote: Well, unfortunately, the main purpose of a lottery is to raise money for states, and if jackpots stay small, the money stays in people's wallets.
No joke really i wondered about that. I know quite well what the lottery is in place for besides generating revenue it was supposed to reduce our tax burden but that a joke too.
my point was. just because people had a run of luck dosen't mean they will continue to have a run of luck winning the smaller jackpots. on the contrary it was a fluke a lucky occurance as is evedent by the fact that the pot is growing again. Just because a few pots were won in a relitive short time dosen't mean every pot will be won in the same fashion. The game is not broken or need fixin. We will continue to see the pots grow. Sure from time to time a smaller pot might be won... big deal. Everybody dosen't have to panic because of it.
There isn't a fluke happening with Powerball. The number of possible players and odds don't match up to generate large jackpots. Same is true in Mega. While mega has broken 100 million that would end if CA joined and the game didn't change. Jackpots of 300+ million are a big windfall for states selling tickets for participating states. That's what the games are there for. To make money for the states selling tickets. As a side benefit those whom like large jackpots get a small chance at winning them.
Quote:Originally posted by dvdiva on April 12, 2005
There isn't a fluke happening with Powerball. The number of possible players and odds don't match up to generate large jackpots. Same is true in Mega. While mega has broken 100 million that would end if CA joined and the game didn't change. Jackpots of 300+ million are a big windfall for states selling tickets for participating states. That's what the games are there for. To make money for the states selling tickets. As a side benefit those whom like large jackpots get a small chance at winning them.
you go ahead and believe whatever you want that's your proactive. Regardless of the amount of the jackpot somebody's going to win if they have the right numbers states have enough games to generate revenue most states sell more scratch offs then all the other games combined. States are not suffering because of mega or powerball. I'm sure you have heard the termif it ain't broke don't fix it. When California joins the can adjust the game anyway they want to suite their population. This will in no way affect other states. When lottery's change the odds and payout's on their games. It dventually leads to more changes. Now if the facts were mega and powerball were hit at the 10 and 20 million dollar level every other week for six months and the amount of people increased or decreased either way each week necessating a change then yea i think a change would be forthcoming. But that's not what's happening. A few people hit consecutive times in a game so everybody panics and says no way we need to change the game. That's not productive that's terminal. If i roll the dice and win ten times in a row does that mean the dice are defective. On the 11 throw i crap out. Then roll 10 more straight wins are the going to change the rules of the game I think not. People got lucky a few times in the powerball game it was a fluke.
four4me is correct. As I have already stated in this post, last year the current Powerball odds produced 5 winners over $100million dollars and 2 of them were over $200million. What he did not point out is the fact that adding the state of California would not reduce the jackpot size, in fact it would simply cause the jackpot to grow that much faster. The only things that can reduce the jackpot sizes are 1) caps on the growth after a draw [I understand the current cap has never been broken] 2) the states taking a larger chunk of the money paid in by players and 3) lowering the odds. When you have more people buying tickets the jackpots just rises faster as you see when the Powerball gets up near $100million. It is not going to take less tickets to win the Powerball just because they were bought in a shorter period of time. As for the last few Jackpots that were hit somewhat early, I sure do feel sorry for the poor guy who only won $25 million (jeez). Longer odds mean fewer winners and thats a shame. I would much rather see someone win $50-150million every 1-2 months than $100-200million every 3-4 months. This change is bad ....
thank's tony95 i'm glad you see things in the same manners as i do. it's really interesting how people react to dvents that are not predictable. The different state lottery's that have mega and powerball probably went through every different senerio about people winning the games at different levels. They probably had think tanks go through many days of banter about what if and how they might respond to various gaming situations of their games.
One of their biggest problems is the peoples reactions to different dvents. people who are satisfied with the games aren't complaining about he games. It's the people who aren't satisfied with the results that are complaining and causing the lottery directors to implement changes. Cronic complainers probably have caused more harm than good by causing/forcing the lottery's to make changes to and otherwise stable game structure. Then the regret the changes down the road because of additional complaints from people who aren't satisfied with the results of the changes. it's a problem with most americans many aren't satisfied with any government implements. regardless of the outcome. They just arn't satisfied with any changes good or bad. Evrybody seems to want things to be his or her own way and can't accept things as they are.
this last sentance not related to the gaming problem is directed to people who think powerball and mega million are the bread winners of their states revenue. quote Virginia lottery director
Kyle attributed the upward trend to brisk sales of scratch-off tickets
good question jag - I just noticed that date also. usually they make the anouncement to take place for the drawing the rules change occurs on. What are people on sunday going to buy - reduced odds tickets. Or are there going to be no ticket sales on the 28th?
I said 5/55 + 1/40. They say they going to do 5/55 + 1/42. I was half right.
I like it. No formula is going to make everyone happy, but this suites me just fine. It will only take two draws to increase the jackpot to 25M. An amount that has only been achieved twice this entire year!
I like the changes and I hope it leads to higher jackpots that powerball has been having lately.
i think it will. now that they are raising the starting jackpot, increasing the matrix (even though they should have increased the number of powerballs to choose from), and increasing the minimum rollover, they should have no problem getting the jackpot back up into the $100 million range.
and it will take only 17 draws (maximum) for the jackpot to get back to $100 million.
I just hope they raise the lower prize amounts. They didn't when they went to the current format.
they will need to do so. winning $100,000 for matching 5 of 55 is way too little for the odds.
- 5 & Powerball: Jackpot (Of Course)
- 5 (No Powerball) : $200,000
- 4 & Powerball: $10,000
- 4 (No Powerball): $200
- 3 & Powerball: $200
- 3 (No Powerball): $10
- 2 & Powerball: $10
- 1 & Powerball: $4
- 0 & Powerball: $3
May I also suggest the removal of the Match 5 Bonus Pool which limits jackpot growth to $25,000,000 per draw. Especially now, considering that with PowerPlay multiplier of x5, matching 5 with no Powerball would still net $1,000,000, and that's every draw.The upcoming powerball change includes increasing the match 5 amount to $200,000.
The press release said nothing about changes to the lower tier prizes.
I thought PB would go for longer odds than 1 in 146 million. At least the starting jackpot and initial increases will be higher.
I'm glad they didn't.
The current odds of 120m-to-1 are depressing as it stands and odds of 146m-to-1 are rediculous at best. Even the Mega Millions is better at 130m-to-1 which has been described as infinitesimal by statisticians. We just got the lottery last year and I was buying 2-20 tickets depending on the pot, but now I will never buy more than a couple at a time and only when the jackpots are 100+ million or I may just play my wife's single number and be done with it. Other than that I plan to pay more attention to the smaller multi-state lotteries (lotto south) that I have a 10x better chance of winning. I would much rather participate in a 10-20 million dollar lottery where buying 10 tickets is equivalent to buying 105 powerball tickets. I hope the powerball officials are not doing this just because the numbers were hit early a few times, because that can happen again at 146m-to-1 and if it does are they going to raise them again. I don't think the public needs to have 200-400 million dollar jackpots to be attracted to the lottery. People buy tickets when they see the jackpot is on the high-side no matter what that may be (it doesn't need to be an astronomical amount).
Tony:
You need to push for Tennessee to join Lotto South or Hot Lotto.
I agree, I run up to Kentucky to buy lotto south tickets
I just can't see changing the matrix. It is difficult enough now to just win $3....much less the BIG ONE!!!! This is all about GREED from the smaller states. When the jackpot is hit(and just by luck) numerous times over the last 3-4 months..states with small populations lose $30-$50 million/month just in lost revenue, only because the jackpots are not escalating to enourmous amounts. I think this change will "turn off" many players....and like ME, will stick to the smaller payouts, like Pick3 and Pick4. Hey!!! who couldn't use $500 for a straight play on Pick3?? I'll take it any and every day!!!!!!!
I would like to know just how many of the 29 lotteries in the PB game actually voted FOR changing the game?????
I have to believe that there are a lot of people out there who know the odds are very long at 120m-to-1 and this will push them away from the powerball. I doubt that I am much different than any other person as I set a budget for the lottery and try buy my plays toward the back end (after the pot has been built up a bit). If those pots are 50 million dollars or 200 million makes very little difference to the average guy. I am not going to go take out a bank loan just because the lottery has gone 34 plays and is up to 350 million dollars, in fact I will see it as evidence that thing is unwinnable. At 120m-to-1 the powerball seemed to be working very well. The jackpot was being hit about once a month, which to me seems reasonable. Now we are likely not to see a winner for 2 or more months and that does not say good things about a lottery in which so many people participate. And all the powerball officials are offering is a 5 million dollar carrot on the front end which will make almost no difference by the time someone gets around to winning it.
Sorry to rant, but one last reason this change is bad for Powerball. Before the change, Powerball had better odds than MegaMillions (130m:1 vs 120m:1). Now MegaMillions has a substantial advantage (130m:1 vs 146m:1). People on the border may decide to play MegaMillions over Powerball. I won't feel sorry for them if sales drop, especially since this change was motivated by greed on the part of the lottery officials and not on making the game better for the players. They should have left it alone. This has just been a year of disappointments for me, first EA kills the ESPN NFL Football series by purchasing exclusive rights to NFL names and likenesses and now Powerball odds have been jacked up to an insulting level. I mean I could have tollerated a slight increase, but a 21 percent increase in the odds.. please.
Does anyone know when this will take effect?
good question....by the way i agree with the person who would rather play pick five,i could use 100,000 dollars as much as i could 10 million and by the time i buy ten pick five tickets that would equal buying a hundred powerball tickets to get to the same odds,i ,ight spend one dollar on powerball maybe but my main allegiance will be to games that are winnable on a daily basis like pick 5,a winner won on pick 5 last night in memphis where i live,all the more reason to stick with pick 5....
also i would love lottosouth,if we could get that here in tennessee i'd quit powerball forever....
Keep in mind that the odds of winning smaller prizes are much higher with Lotto 5. They need a Match 2 prize.
Even though they plan to drop two new numbered balls into the mixing hopper on August 29, it certainly won't keep me from continuing to regularly play favorite old number sets. My main concern is the type of drawing conducted regardless of tweaking the odds. I'm just relieved and thankful that Powerball didn't change to computerized draws.
that would be commercial suicide if powerball went computerized,that would ruin the magic of the game......
jimmysand i agree,i wish we had prizes for matching two on lotto five but then again that would mean a lot more money they would be paying out and you know how stingy they are with prize payouts......
I just went to the powerball page and noticed that this is not the first time they have made the odds worse. Apparently it started off with 49 numbers. (Click the news and info link, and then click "History of Multistate Lottery Association")
Mike:
No lottery game is a stingy as NY Lotto 6/59...
Yes, a few years ago the odds were 80m:1. I wish I had been able to participate in it back then. But they have added many states and thats why the odds have increased. Also, if anyone was wondering or missed it in the article, then new odds are not going into effect until August 29th. So, I have almost four months to play it the way I like it and then I will resolve myself to 1-2 tickets per draw and of course lotto south.
C'mon now. If you're playing at 120m:1, you'll play at 145m:1. The game will be 20% harder to win. Match 5 is 21.2% more difficult: 1:3,478,761 compared to 1:2,869,685, but second prize increases by 100%?? That's a deal! It's still only $1.
You speak as if a 21% increase in odds against winning is no big deal. If that is the case why not just double them. How about 300mil:1? Then we could watch 2-3 winners a year win half a billion dollars or so, thats obsurd. You can already see $100-200 million jackpots with the 120m:1 odds as it happened 5 times last years, so why jack it up just because a few people hit it early this year. And as for a 3.5mil:1 chance of winning $200,000 being a great deal.. this is equally obsurd. Our lotto five just reached $450,000 and the odds on it are only 500k:1. Thats 7 times better than the chance you have to win $200,000 with a Powerball ticket. Of course you can always buy power play, but then you only get half of the numbers for the same amount of money so you reduce your odds of winning by half. People need to face the facts, Powerball is now the worst lottery odds you can playing in America. I will still participate in the Powerball, but I would encourage people not to buy more than 1-2 tickets. Hopefully the Powerball organization will lose money and drop the odds back to 120m:1.
I don't think the increase is a big deal. Where's the cutoff point for you? 138m:1? Is there some magical number where above that line you won't play more than $2?
Powerball is a game of dreams. It's an excursion from my 8-5 job. I'd rather put down $5 for a $500m fantasy than $5 for a $19m dream that is slightly more probable.
I haven't seen anywhere if they changed the lame rules regarding limits to record jackpots. Jag, I wouldn't worry about the whiners. Some people just don't get the concept of multi-state games and big jackpots. The difference between 120 and 146 or even 160 million isn't much. People who don't like odds above 100 million should stick to one state games. Leave the large jackpots to those who want a chance at them. It would be like me saying that pick 3 should be banned. If you don't like a game leave it for people who do.
They are probably not going to get rid of the match 5 bonus rule since they have created it and it has not gone into use yet. I emailed a week ago about getting rid of the rule and they were talking it up but one thing they did say that was interesting is that the record at which match 5 bonus starts is 340 million. But the next time it gets to the record it will be 365 million and then 390 million and so on. So it is not always set at the same start up point. It goes up in 25 million increments just like the jackpot run will once it gets past the record level.
yeah. remember that once it gets to record levels, without the limit, the rollovers could be in the $100 million range.
So the same stupid rule is still there?
What kind of a jerk wants less of a chance to win?
Me
Big jackpots require big odds. I want to play for a $1 billion jackpot and I would play a game with 300m:1 odds.
well that bites... a matrix change means ALL previous data becomes irrelevant (IF you believe history is relevant... I am one that does)... gotta start from square one with everything. (pb red ball data will still count tho)
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..........
so, aug 29th is the end of the 5/53 world.... now we have a deadline.... get crunchin'!
and they better not get any bright ideas about $2 minimum tickets... if they do that they should be boycotted... we already have a pennsylvania for that.
hypersoniq that's probably one of the many reasons they change the games structure. From time to time. Since they receive all kind of complaints that the game is to easy to win because the jackpots didn't grow to astronimical porpotions for a couple months. what's worse is the lottery directors didn't respond corectly about this and should have reported that the few jackpots that were won in the last couple months were basically a fluke. People were fortunate to pick or receive the winning QP numbers to those games. And it wasen't the structure of the game that's at fault.
Don't trash your hard work just yet. It could be a while until they make the changes.
hey,suppose all the drawing i see on tv,for pb is not live drawing?
Aye
Jackpot games are fun. They're just plain fun. What could be more exciting than playing for $1 billion? $2 billion of course, but I'll have to wait 20 years for that!
I'm not banking on winning the lottery for my retirement. I'm investing for that purpose. Geez, what I wouldn't give though to pick up about 10 sportscars and a couple of mansions with my millions!
Really though, am I going to win on just plain luck with odds of 120m:1? No. Someone will, but I'd be delusional to think it would be me, unless there's a code inherent to randomness itself that can be found. So what's the harm in odds of 500m:1? I'm still not going to win on sheer luck, and the code, if it exists, will still be waiting to be found out.
So bring on the larger-than-life jackpots, I'll be here to solve the numbers games!
As far as Powerball goes, that's such a wimpy odds increase. It would be justice to see the new game get hit just as often as the current one has the last four months.
Maybe putting $1 on the lottery is a lot like throwing $1 in a sewer drain, except it's more entertaining!
JAG
I reckon it could be me, just as it will be someone, dventually. Most PB and MM draws have no jackpot winner. That's millions of losers every draw! Then once in a while, about every 130 millionth ticket, one person wins. You could spend $5 on every Powerball draw for the next 50 years (disregarding price/odds hikes), and still stand only a 1:4,602 chance of cashing in big time.
These games need a system. You need a strong system and good fortune to have any chance. This is why I don't believe in QPs.
ryanm wrote: Well, unfortunately, the main purpose of a lottery is to raise money for states, and if jackpots stay small, the money stays in people's wallets.
No joke really i wondered about that. I know quite well what the lottery is in place for besides generating revenue it was supposed to reduce our tax burden but that a joke too.
my point was. just because people had a run of luck dosen't mean they will continue to have a run of luck winning the smaller jackpots. on the contrary it was a fluke a lucky occurance as is evedent by the fact that the pot is growing again. Just because a few pots were won in a relitive short time dosen't mean every pot will be won in the same fashion. The game is not broken or need fixin. We will continue to see the pots grow. Sure from time to time a smaller pot might be won... big deal. Everybody dosen't have to panic because of it.
There isn't a fluke happening with Powerball. The number of possible players and odds don't match up to generate large jackpots. Same is true in Mega. While mega has broken 100 million that would end if CA joined and the game didn't change. Jackpots of 300+ million are a big windfall for states selling tickets for participating states. That's what the games are there for. To make money for the states selling tickets. As a side benefit those whom like large jackpots get a small chance at winning them.
four4me is correct. As I have already stated in this post, last year the current Powerball odds produced 5 winners over $100million dollars and 2 of them were over $200million. What he did not point out is the fact that adding the state of California would not reduce the jackpot size, in fact it would simply cause the jackpot to grow that much faster. The only things that can reduce the jackpot sizes are 1) caps on the growth after a draw [I understand the current cap has never been broken] 2) the states taking a larger chunk of the money paid in by players and 3) lowering the odds. When you have more people buying tickets the jackpots just rises faster as you see when the Powerball gets up near $100million. It is not going to take less tickets to win the Powerball just because they were bought in a shorter period of time. As for the last few Jackpots that were hit somewhat early, I sure do feel sorry for the poor guy who only won $25 million (jeez). Longer odds mean fewer winners and thats a shame. I would much rather see someone win $50-150million every 1-2 months than $100-200million every 3-4 months. This change is bad ....
thank's tony95 i'm glad you see things in the same manners as i do. it's really interesting how people react to dvents that are not predictable. The different state lottery's that have mega and powerball probably went through every different senerio about people winning the games at different levels. They probably had think tanks go through many days of banter about what if and how they might respond to various gaming situations of their games.
One of their biggest problems is the peoples reactions to different dvents. people who are satisfied with the games aren't complaining about he games. It's the people who aren't satisfied with the results that are complaining and causing the lottery directors to implement changes. Cronic complainers probably have caused more harm than good by causing/forcing the lottery's to make changes to and otherwise stable game structure. Then the regret the changes down the road because of additional complaints from people who aren't satisfied with the results of the changes. it's a problem with most americans many aren't satisfied with any government implements. regardless of the outcome. They just arn't satisfied with any changes good or bad. Evrybody seems to want things to be his or her own way and can't accept things as they are.
this last sentance not related to the gaming problem is directed to people who think powerball and mega million are the bread winners of their states revenue. quote Virginia lottery director
Kyle attributed the upward trend to brisk sales of scratch-off tickets
August 29th is a Monday. So the 31st will be the first new matrix drawing?
good question jag - I just noticed that date also. usually they make the anouncement to take place for the drawing the rules change occurs on. What are people on sunday going to buy - reduced odds tickets. Or are there going to be no ticket sales on the 28th?
Probably no ticket sales on 28th
matching 5 for 200,000 sounds tempting.