Dump Water Florida United States
Member #380
June 5, 2002
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I'm likely a day late and always a dollar short, but today I noticed the flyer for the new Florida 6/53 Jackpot Plus offer. This feature lets you add one or two dollars to your Play or QP to increase the prize by $10 million for a dollar or $25 million for two dollars.
Frankly I don't see how this can pay for the amounts offered (what's the odds of the winner having paid the extra?), but welcome the decision in light of some other games raising the cost of a ticket to $2.00
I'd be happy to win the regular jackpot even if I have to share it. Paying an additional one or two dollars certainly increases the per dollar odds. Florida should have gone to .50 tickets when they went up from 6/49 to 6/53 IMO.
Wandering Aimlessly United States
Member #25,359
November 5, 2005
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It's a rip-off as far as I am concerned. I wouldn't spend an extra dollar for a game with 1 in 23M odds. That would mean I'd be losing twice as much every week! The only time I'd want the extra $10M anyway is if I won the lowest jackpot which is $3M and then had to split it. However, rarely does anyone split the Lotto jackpot at those levels anyway. I talk to regular players all the time and rarely do I meet anyone who has even won 5/6.
BTW, I really like your idea about the 50 cent tickets or 2 for a buck.
Does anyone here think they are doing this to appeal to the tourists and snowbirds who drop a lot of money on hotels and restaurants? I was in 7-11 the other night and someone in a Tommy Bahama type shirt asked for 10 of the $20 scratch-offs. The clerk said they didn't have any, so he bought $10 scratch-offs and then $20 in quick picks for Lotto. When I was walking to my car, I noticed he had a Missouri license plate. I'm not saying the local residents don't spend money, but I think someone is more likely to blow $100 bucks when he's on vacation.
Wisconsin United States
Member #1,303
March 27, 2003
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Quote: Originally posted by BobP on Feb 2, 2008
I'm likely a day late and always a dollar short, but today I noticed the flyer for the new Florida 6/53 Jackpot Plus offer. This feature lets you add one or two dollars to your Play or QP to increase the prize by $10 million for a dollar or $25 million for two dollars.
Frankly I don't see how this can pay for the amounts offered (what's the odds of the winner having paid the extra?), but welcome the decision in light of some other games raising the cost of a ticket to $2.00
I'd be happy to win the regular jackpot even if I have to share it. Paying an additional one or two dollars certainly increases the per dollar odds. Florida should have gone to .50 tickets when they went up from 6/49 to 6/53 IMO.
BobP
I agree with your reasoning. I think they found out how lucrative the Power Play Option is for Powerball and are following suit. Whenever I buy a Powerball ticket, I never take the Powerplay Option. For the extra buck it costs, I would feel better off spending that buck on another Powerball ticket.
Wandering Aimlessly United States
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November 5, 2005
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Quote: Originally posted by Badger on Feb 2, 2008
I agree with your reasoning. I think they found out how lucrative the Power Play Option is for Powerball and are following suit. Whenever I buy a Powerball ticket, I never take the Powerplay Option. For the extra buck it costs, I would feel better off spending that buck on another Powerball ticket.
I thought when I read your comment "what if" you DID get 5 numbers in PB and didn't take the Powerplay option and could have won $800,000 instead of $200,000? I believe many people who buy PB tickets feel that way. I'm actually happy we don't have PB or MM in Florida.
Badger, I call it the "what if" syndrome. Maybe most people aren't as neurotic as I am, but that's what keeps me running to buy tickets, even though some nights I want to skip. I know people always say the odds of not playing your regular numbers and then being drawn are too slim to worry about, but it happened to me (Fantasy5) and I get depressed once in a while thinking about that night. So, although the lottery says they try not to rope people in, they do everything they can to make sure we keep spending more and playing more.
Wisconsin United States
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March 27, 2003
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Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Feb 2, 2008
I thought when I read your comment "what if" you DID get 5 numbers in PB and didn't take the Powerplay option and could have won $800,000 instead of $200,000? I believe many people who buy PB tickets feel that way. I'm actually happy we don't have PB or MM in Florida.
Badger, I call it the "what if" syndrome. Maybe most people aren't as neurotic as I am, but that's what keeps me running to buy tickets, even though some nights I want to skip. I know people always say the odds of not playing your regular numbers and then being drawn are too slim to worry about, but it happened to me (Fantasy5) and I get depressed once in a while thinking about that night. So, although the lottery says they try not to rope people in, they do everything they can to make sure we keep spending more and playing more.
"What if" I leave home tomorrow morning on my way to buy a ticket and get hit by a meteor? Chances of that happening are probably not much worse than winning a jackpot game.
I mostly play Pick 3. Better odds and more control over what I want to play. But even then, you constantly run into days where you didn't play the winning combo even though you had it among your picks. Or that day when you didn't get a chance to get to the store and so didn't play and you had the winning combo on your playslip which was never used.
But then there are also the times when you have your picks and don't feel like going out to play (like on crummy-weather Sundays) and feel more like being an all-day veggie....but you go out anyway and you win. And then there are the days like about a week ago when a combo I'd been following but not playing suddenly seemed like a good idea to play and I did and I hit it straight.
You win some, you lose more. But you can't worry about "what ifs". And you sure don't hit every day.
Dump Water Florida United States
Member #380
June 5, 2002
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Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Feb 2, 2008
I thought when I read your comment "what if" you DID get 5 numbers in PB and didn't take the Powerplay option and could have won $800,000 instead of $200,000? I believe many people who buy PB tickets feel that way. I'm actually happy we don't have PB or MM in Florida.
Badger, I call it the "what if" syndrome. Maybe most people aren't as neurotic as I am, but that's what keeps me running to buy tickets, even though some nights I want to skip. I know people always say the odds of not playing your regular numbers and then being drawn are too slim to worry about, but it happened to me (Fantasy5) and I get depressed once in a while thinking about that night. So, although the lottery says they try not to rope people in, they do everything they can to make sure we keep spending more and playing more.
I never cease to be amazed how I can make numbers not be drawn by playing them and be drawn by not playing them. Happens too often to be a coincidence, maybe we share the same incredible power.
Wandering Aimlessly United States
Member #25,359
November 5, 2005
4,461 Posts
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Cats do have super powers, Bob. Maybe it's that lottery fairy Coin Toss has mentioned in his posts. She (or to be politically correct, possibly he) might be flying around with magic fairy dust and creating havoc with the laws of probability.
mid-Ohio United States
Member #9
March 24, 2001
20,272 Posts
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Quote: Originally posted by BobP on Feb 2, 2008
I'm likely a day late and always a dollar short, but today I noticed the flyer for the new Florida 6/53 Jackpot Plus offer. This feature lets you add one or two dollars to your Play or QP to increase the prize by $10 million for a dollar or $25 million for two dollars.
Frankly I don't see how this can pay for the amounts offered (what's the odds of the winner having paid the extra?), but welcome the decision in light of some other games raising the cost of a ticket to $2.00
I'd be happy to win the regular jackpot even if I have to share it. Paying an additional one or two dollars certainly increases the per dollar odds. Florida should have gone to .50 tickets when they went up from 6/49 to 6/53 IMO.
BobP
"Frankly I don't see how this can pay for the amounts offered"
It's not like you're betting anyone will win the jackpot but rather you're betting you will win the jackpot. It's like every time you play a combination they're willing to bet $10M to $1 or $25M to $2 that you won't win the jackpot. It's like buying a $1 or $2 ticket in a 6/53 games that only pays if you get all six numbers right. If such a game was offered on its own, it would look like a rip-off and nobody would play even though the odds are such that it will have a 40-50% pay back.
* you don't need to buy every combination, just the winning ones *