Powerball
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The following is about the multi-state lottery game in the United States; Powerball is also a lottery operated in Australia. There is also a Powerball gyroscopic exercise tool.
Powerball is an American lottery operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a consortium of lottery commissions in 29 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball is licensed as the monopoly provider of multistate lotteries in these jurisdictions.
Started in 1990[1] as Lotto America, the name was officially changed to Powerball on April 19, 1992. The matrix has been changed periodically. On March 4, 2001, an optional multiplier wheel was added. On November 2, 1997, the annuity period was changed from 20 to 25 years. The current estimated jackpot for March 31, 2007 is US$41 million.[1]
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[edit] Playing the game
As of 2007, to play the game, a player pays one dollar and picks five numbers from 1 to 55 (white balls) and one additional number from 1 to 42 (the Powerball number, a red ball). For an additional dollar, the player may activate the optional Power Play feature, which applies a random multiplier to all prizes except the jackpot.
| Starting date | Pick 5 out of | Pick 1 out of | Optional multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 19, 1992 | 45 | 45 | none |
| November 2, 1997 | 49 | 42 | none |
| March 4, 2001 | 49 | 42 | 1–5 |
| October 6, 2002 | 53 | 42 | 2–5 |
| August 28, 2005 | 55 | 42 | 2–5 |
A promotion from March 2 through March 29, 2006, replaced one of the four 5x slots on the Power Play wheel with 10x. The 10x multiplier was drawn once, on March 11, 2006.
The player wins according to the following:
| Matches | Payoff | Odds of winning[2] |
|---|---|---|
| powerball only | $ 3 | 1 in 69 [2] |
| 1 number and powerball | $ 4 | 1 in 127 |
| 2 numbers and powerball | $ 7 | 1 in 745 |
| 3 numbers but no powerball | $ 7 | 1 in 291 |
| 3 numbers and powerball | $ 100 | 1 in 11,927 |
| 4 numbers but no powerball | $ 100 | 1 in 14,254 |
| 4 numbers and powerball | $ 10,000 | 1 in 584,432 |
| all 5 numbers but no powerball | $ 200,000 | 1 in 3,563,609 |
| all 5 numbers and powerball | Jackpot | 1 in 146,107,962 |
Overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 36.61.
Jackpot winners have the option of receiving an annuity prize or a single lump sum cash payment. The minimum jackpot prize is a $15 million annuity disbursed in 30 payments over 29 years. The lump sum payment is typically approximately half the annuity value. The 30 annuity payments are not equal but based on an increasing rate schedule. For example, the first annual gross annuity payment on the base US$15 million jackpot would be approximately $267,000 while the final annual payment would be approximately $834,000.
Powerball drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday (days following Mega Millions drawings) at MUSL's headquarters in Urbandale, Iowa, normally at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Drawings are occasionally scheduled at remote locations; when this occurs, the time may be adjusted, but the day remains the same.
[edit] Machines Used
The balls are blown around inside the container by a fan underneath. A jack at the bottom pushes a winning ball up to the top where it comes out rolling down on a track outside.
[edit] Winning Expectation
Because the quoted jackpot amount is paid as an annuity over 29 years, its immediate cash value to the winner is close to, but less than, half [3] the quoted jackpot amount. The winner may choose to accept the annuity or the cash value.
When the Jackpot is $200M, a player's winning expectation is -14% if no one else is playing. This is the best scenario for the player because the winning will not be diluted in sharing. The expectation of -14% means that the player will lose about $140 billion if he buys a one dollar ticket one trillion times. The player will lose more in reality because others are also playing.
The player's expectation gets better when the jackpot becomes higher. If the jackpot is $400M, a player's winning expectation becomes 54% before tax. If the jackpot is $30M, a player's winning expectation becomes -72%. The break even point is for the jackpot to be $242M, in which case the player loses no more than the tax paid. All these numbers are based on the best scenario in which no other plays is diluting the winning.
With the jackpot at various levels, if a player pays $1, the net expectation is shown in the following table:
| Jackpot (approximate) | Cash Value | Winning Expectation |
|---|---|---|
| $30M | $15M | $-0.72 |
| $50M | $25M | $-0.66 |
| $100M | $50M | $-0.48 |
| $150M | $75M | $-0.31 |
| $200M | $100M | $-0.14 |
| $242M | $121M | $0 |
| $300M | $150M | $0.20 |
| $350M | $175M | $0.37 |
| $400M | $200M | $0.54 |
[edit] Odds decrease, payouts increase
On August 28, 2005, the game was modified to provide larger jackpots and faster jackpot pool growth. The main pool of numbers was increased from 53 to 55 and jackpots now begin at US$15 million rather than US$10 million. The Powerball number pool remains 42.
Odds of picking the jackpot winning numbers decreased to 1:146.1 million. Overall odds of winning a prize increased slightly to 1:36.61.
Some lower tier prizes also increased. The second tier prize increased from US$100,000 to $200,000 and the third tier prize doubled to US$10,000.
[edit] Largest payoffs
On February 18, 2006, the jackpot worth $365 million was won by a single ticket sold in Lincoln, Nebraska. That single ticket was shared by eight meat plant workers. This is the largest Powerball prize and was once the largest in the world.
A grand prize won on October 19, 2005 worth $340 million was awarded to the West family in Jacksonville, Oregon. The family won less than two months after the rules were changed to promote larger payouts. Steve West, who purchased the ticket, put in $20 for tickets, along with another $20 from his in-laws. The family plans to split the prize among themselves.
New Hampshire U.S. Senator Judd Gregg won $850,000 for matching all the numbers but the Powerball.
Prior to the $340 million winner, Jack Whittaker was the claimant to the biggest jackpot. He won $314 million on December 25, 2002.
On July, 1998, a jackpot worth $295 million was won by 13 machinists. This hold world record for the largest jackpot for two years.
[edit] Fortune cookie payout
The Powerball drawing of the March 30, 2005 game produced an unprecedented 110 second-place winners, all of whom picked five numbers correctly with no powerball number. The total came out to $19.4 million in unexpected payouts. 89 tickets won $100,000, but 21 additional tickets won $500,000 due to the Power Play multiplier option.
Powerball officials initially suspected fraud, but it turned out that all the winners received their numbers from fortune cookies made by Wonton Food Inc., a fortune cookie factory in Long Island City, Queens, New York. The factory had printed the five winning numbers (22, 28, 32, 33, and 39) on thousands of fortunes. The sixth number in the fortune, 40, did not match the powerball number, 42. None of the employees of Wonton Food played those numbers.
[edit] Participating states and territories
Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Washington D.C. and U.S. Virgin Islands.
Powerball winnings are exempt from state income taxes in Delaware, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. New Hampshire and South Dakota have no state income tax.
Georgia left Powerball in 1996 to join Mega Millions, another multi-state lottery.
[edit] Licensed Products
In 2006 WMS Gaming released a range of slot machines under the Powerball brand name.
[edit] Vista Sidebar Gadgets
In 2007 The Oregon Lottery® released a new Windows Vista Sidebar gadget which relays the winning numbers for Powerball in live time. The gadget also provides large jackpot announcements. Oregon Lottery® Gadget. Oregon Lottery®
[edit] References
- ^ "Powerball.com." Powerball. March 29, 2007. Retrieved on March 29, 2007.
- ^ Powerball - Prizes and Odds. Retrieved on 2006-02-16.
- ^ The actual ratio depends on projected interest rates and other factors. They start with the cash value and calculate the advertised Jackpot amount from that. See http://www.powerball.com/pb_contact.asp
- April Witt (January 30, 2005). "Rich Man, Poor Man". The Washington Post Magazine, page 14.
- Jennifer 8. Lee (May 11, 2005). "Who Needs Giacomo? Bet on the Fortune Cookie". The New York Times. [3]
- Press release detailing March 30, 2005 payout.
- usamega.com Powerball Jackpot Analysis
[edit] External links
| Preceded by The Big Game (now Mega Millions) |
World's largest lottery jackpot 2006-2007 |
Succeeded by Mega Millions |
