MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — The Powerball Power Play variable prize multiplier will return starting with the Jan. 22, 2014, drawing, the Pennsylvania Lottery said today.
Under new game rules, a separate drawing will be performed to select the Power Play number — a 2, 3, 4 or 5 — for all prizes except the jackpot and the Match 5 prize. The Match 5 prize is $2 million if the Power Play option is purchased.
"The return of the Power Play variable multiplier is expected to be popular with our Powerball players," said Lottery Executive Director Todd Rucci.
The multi-state Powerball game previously used a variable multiplier for Power Play, but a set lower-tier prize structure was adopted in January 2012.
Because of the upcoming change, advance-play sales for Powerball will start to taper after the Wednesday, Oct. 23, drawing. The number of advance plays available for purchase will decrease by one after each drawing until the new game configuration begins in January.
After the Jan. 18 Powerball drawing, players will again be able to purchase up to 13 weeks (26 draws) of advance-play tickets.
Powerball's ticket price will remain $2, and the price of purchasing the Power Play option will remain unchanged at $1.
How to play Powerball (currently): Players pay $2 and select five white balls from the first set of 59 numbers plus a single red ball, the Powerball, from a second set of 35 numbers. Players may select their own numbers using a Powerball playslip, or they may opt for computer-selected quick picks. Players must match all five numbers drawn plus the Powerball number to win the jackpot. There also are eight additional ways for players to win a cash prize. The $1 Power Play option allows a winner to increase non-jackpot prizes. The Match 5+0 prize with Power Play option is worth $2 million.
Powerball tickets are sold in 43 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Thanks to weshar75 for the tip.
So what are they saying...they're going back to the 200, 400, 600, 800 thousand 2nd tier prizes
Nice, and the price does'nt change.
I'm sure declining Powerplay sales had something to do with this.
Here are the new multiplier odds:
5X - 1 in 10
4X - 1 in 10
3X - 1 in 3.33
2X - 1 in 2
It says the match 5 prize for Powerplay will remain 2 million dollars, it's the prizes below that, that will have the multiplier take affect.
Power Play comparison using weighted multiplier (2.8) effective 2014:
All figures rounded to whole dollars.
In EV terms, the 2014 change decreases expectancy by 1 cent (bad).
As I suspect, they rarely change the game unless it's in their favor!
Sure is alot of changing in these Lotteries.Now I'm studying Kentucky,it's a close drive than Georgia.Anything is better than playing here.Pick up some Powerball while Im there...
I think one of the best and easiest things Powerball can change is to increase the prize for 1 + 1. I think it's pretty strange to have a separate prize level for 1 + 1 when it awards the exact same prize as 0 + 1.
Hallelujah?
I've always wondered about that, too. I started to ask why that was, but was afraid it would be something so simple I'd sound stupid for asking.
I do well enough with that as it is.
Hey Lotto Geek, have you stopped blogging? I miss reading new blog entries from you.
It's basically a wash, no real change in total payout. All they've done is increase the variability of the 3rd-9th prizes, that's all.
The real change would be if either MM or PB steps beyond the standard 50% of sales prize pool, to maybe 55% or 60%, then that would be something.
Doesn't matter for us Californians though, being pari-mutuel with no Powerplay option.(I don't miss it though...)
On a side note, Cali finally claimed it's first Powerball Jackpot last night:
FAST N EASY
6451 E SHIELDS AVE
FRESNO CA 93727
All I got was a measly 3+1 for $80 but I'll take it.
Hi LottoMetro,
Based on your chart it looks like the 4 + 1 will be going down from 40,000 to 28,000. Since I always play Powerball with the powerplay it looks like that is a big letdown. When I play I'm always hoping for at least a lower tier prize since winning the jackpot or the 2nd prize is so impossible. The other increases seem very small and they are going to lower the 1+1 and 0 + 1 to 11 dollars instead of 12 dollars. I'm not sure what the prizes will be if the multiplier is 3 or 4.
Actually, no, the values he posted were just an approximate weighted average. Those are not the actual prize values you would receive.
Based on the new variable multiplier 2X to 5X, that means your 2nd-9th prizes from Powerplay would be like below:
I don't blame you TnT, when ever we go to Texas I always multi-draw there state games.
Funny. Before Texas got Powerball, I would drive up to Ok to buy PB tics.
Before they changed the Hot Lotto matrix, I was contemplating driving up there to play it. Now the odds on that game are worse than Texas Lotto.
I couldn't agree more! I hit the 1+1 often and it is discouraging that it pays the same as just the powerball number.
Yes, JonD is right....the payouts I posted would not be what you receive if you won. It was simply a weighted average of payouts (basically, from the lottery's perspective). If you played this over time your average winnings would be about this much because of how often the multiplier appears. As mentioned, I suspect that although the change mostly changes the variability of lower prizes, it is to being reinstituted to compensate for the lackluster Powerplay sales which increase the liability of higher prizes. True, 1 cent difference in expectancy is really not signficant, but over a period of several years it will add up.
The only way this will be kinda sorta ok with me is if the 5+0 is also multiplied. I have a feeling PB is a little worried about MM's potential 5M payoff at the 5+0 level and is scrambling to cut their losses by implementing something like it.
If I'm wrong and the 5+0 will not be multiplied, then it sucks. lol
Good luck to the people purchasing the Powerplay playing Powerball.
Well now they are giving Megamillions a break and making people consider buying 2 PB tickets for $4 instead of the powerplay
Thanks for the update
From the OP:
"The return of the Power Play variable multiplier is expected to be popular with our Powerball players," said Lottery Executive Director Todd Rucci.
Translation,
We're not selling near the $3 tickets we thought we would and to try to get people to play the Powerplay - and thus an extra dollar per ticket, we're brining back the multiplier.
If I read it right their not changing the 5+0 prize from $2 million so it only affects the $10,000 prize and lower so they are not going to be head to head with mega millions on that level.-weshar75
I guess with Mega Millions making hteir game change, Powerball had to come up with something to stay in the loop.
Risking $2 to win $5 Million playing Mega Millions?
VS.
Risking $3 to win $2 Million playing Powerball?
How about changing this multiplier from 2 x $1.00 = 1 Play to 1 x $1.00 = 1 Play
Maybe we'll play again.
More like:
Risking $2 to win $5 million with odds of 1 in 46,230,510 playing Mega Millions
vs.
Risking $3 to win $2 million with odds of 1 in 5,153,633 playing Powerball
The odds of winning $1 million in MM are 1 in 18,492,204 and because the "5x" multiplier has odds of 1 in 2.5, the result is conditional. 60% of the time your prize will be less than $5 million. Using a weighted multiplier and dividing by cost, the 2nd prize for MM is worth ~10.5 cents versus ~12.9 cents in Powerball. So really, it's not as great as it seems
I forgot everything about the odds of winning MM. Did you know that lottery players spent $1.5 Billion US dollars trying to win a $640 Million Mega Millions jackpot? I contributed $1 to the pool of losers and winners.
I bought a $2 Mega Millions quick pick ticket with Megaplier today. I have spent $3 for a powerball ticket with Powerplay too. I won zero dollars.
I wonder why each lottery is offering thousands of games with no real value to lottery players. They want us to spend money on the lottery everyday.
I've said it before, I'm not a fan of either Megaplier or Powerplay, but it seems like Megaplier may be the lesser of two evils.
Both Megaplier and Powerplay are side bets that return ~50% and when combined with the base wager increase 2nd thru 9th prizes total return:
MM from 17.42% to 33.68% with Megaplier
PB from 18.02% to 28.67% with Powerplay
New PB with variable multiplier: increases from 18.02% to 28.47% with Powerplay. Less than 1% difference, essentially a wash. The small difference coming from the need to create simple ball draw equivalent multiplier ratios:
2x - 5/10
3x - 3/10
4x - 1/10
5x - 1/10
Powerball is really limited in their options, which is why they couldn't do the 2nd prize with variable multiplier. They don't have the margin. They would either need to have even more ridiculous multiplier odds, or increase the price of Powerplay to $2, both would be bad PR moves. So they just did what they did.
Most states offer only 5-10 online games and maybe 50 scratch-off games, unless you're traveling all over the country you'll never see more than a hundred of them.
These games aren't suppose offer any real value, they are only meant to be an entertaining way to get rid of your money and maybe end up with some extra cash if you're real lucky.
Hmmm...sounds like PB is having "MULTIPLIER ENVY".
This!
It seems every time I've hit the pb since the increase, it includes on white ball.
Yay! I win nothing extra.
Even if it added a buck or 2 to the $4 it would be better than nothing.
I wonder if the said changes brought increase in ticket sales? Did they increase in prize? I hope they can make changes that the players will love. I think some changes happen just to say that there's something new.