A Dollar and a Dream

One of the best lottery slogans was coined by the New York State Lottery:

"All you need is a dollar and a dream"

With  tomorrow night's Powerball jackpot prize of $260 million, I, for one, just can't stop dreaming. Already, I've spent $5 on tickets, and have dreaming about:

• Waking up and finding I'm the winner.
• Taking a trip to lottery headquarters and collecting my huge oversize check.
• Buying that lake-side summer house I've always wanted.
• Not having to work anymore.
• Playing cards, eating out, planning and taking vacations.
• Surprising my family with a share of the winnings.
• Exercising all the time so I don't get too fat.
• Paying all my bills.
• Laughing all the way to the bank.

And what about you? If you have a dream, share it with us. After all, it only costs a buck to play, but you get an infinite number of dreams for free.

UK Thunderball Lottery Format Change

During the past week, we noticed an increased amount of traffic in our Thunderball pages. When we entered the results last Sunday, we learned why:

Thunderball Changed.

Beginning with the May 12, 2010 drawing:

• The Jackpot prize was doubled from �250,000 to �500,000.
• The number of white balls increased from 34 to 39.
• The number of Thunderballs remained the same at 14.
• And, a new �3 prize was added for those matching the Thunderball only.

With these modifications, the overall chances of winning any prize decreased from 1 in 18 to 1 in 12. But, the total number of combinations more than doubled, from 3,895,584 to 8,060,598.

We are busily updating our pages and expect to have all revisions completed by the end of next week. Afterwards, we will provide an updated blog report summarizing whether these changes are better or worse for the Thunderball players.

Lottery Players Bear Parimutuel Risk (Lottery Trivia Answer 2010-09)

Last Week's Trivia Question #2010-09 was: 

The winning prize amounts of many State lotteries, such as Pick 3 and 4, are paid based on parimutuel system while other States have fixed payout prizes. To help players better understand what this means, we asked:

• What is a parimutuel Lottery Payout?
• How does it differ than fixed payouts?
• Are parimutuel payouts higher or lower than fixed payouts?

Based on our research and experience, we have found that:

• A parimutuel payout is one in which a fixed percentage of the amount received is paid back to the players. It was invented by Joseph Oller in 1867 and is typically used in race track betting.
• This differs from a fixed winning payout in that the amount of a winning ticket fluxuates depending upon the number of winning tickets. For example, States such as North Carolina and Texas pay a flat $250 for a straight combination $0.50 winning ticket. However, New Jersey, California, and others pay the Pick 3 winners based on a parimutuel share of the winnings.
• Parimutuel payouts might be much higher or lower than the corresponding fixed payout. A Pick 3 parimutuel ticket may pay as little as $75 or as high as $425 on the same $0.50 ticket.

In our opinion, the primary difference is: Which Party bears the payout risk?

• In the fixed payout system, the State bears the risk of having to payout more than it received. To counterbalance this, the State get to retain the implied profit when few payouts are required.
• In a parimutuel environment, the player bears the risk because: the payout odds differ from number to number; and, the odds are not shown to the player.

JL.....

What Does Parimutuel Mean? (Lottery Trivia Question 2010-09)

This week's Lottery Trivia Question is about Lottery Prize Winning Payouts in General.

Our Trivia Question #2010-09 is: 

Many Pick 3, Pick 4, and other lottery prizes are paid out on a parimutuel basis while some are stated as a fixed amount.

• What is a parimutuel Lottery Payout?
• How does it differ than fixed payouts?
• Are parimutuel payouts higher or lower than fixed payouts?

Enter your answer by leaving a Comment to this post below. Leave your name, and if you have a website or blog, provide it's URL and name.

We will provide the correct answer next Monday, May 17th, and will post your name and a URL link back to your site.

JL.........

Pick 3 Release Announcement

After months of development, we completed the programming of our newest offerings:

Pick 3 Recommendations

for the 

North Carolina, New Jersey, and Texas Lotteries.

The methodology is based on a modified Delta System, which consolidates numbers into groups of 8. The strategy requires a player to select a Delta, and then continually purchase all 8 numbers associated with it until you win. You can access our index to these pages at the post:

Pick 3 Numbers Now Available at Lottery Power Picks

For you use, our pages are split into 5 sections. At the upper right are the most recent drawing results and payouts. On the upper left are our recommended numbers for the next drawing.

In the center, we provide detailed summaries of each Delta showing lapsed time between winning intervals.

At the bottom, we present a suggested purchasing schedule that will help ensure players receive a positive cash flow. And lastly, we outline a guideline of steps to follow.

We hope these newly created pages bring you luck and help to generate a profit for your enjoyment.

JL............

Lottery Expansion Helps Powerball Most (Lottery Trivia Answer 2010-08)

Last Week's Trivia Question #2010-08 was: 

Powerball and Mega Millions began selling each others games at the end of January 2010, but they did not change the format of the games. Since then, we questioned:

• How has the increased playing population affected the jackpot winning frequencies?
• Have the average jackpots gotten smaller?
• What is the average growth of the jackpot prizes?
• Which game appears to be more popular?

To answer these questions, we examined and summarized the results of these games since 2001.

• Prior to the change, there were an average of 11.4 Powerball and 12.1 Mega Millions Jackpot yearly winners. In 2010, there have been 4 Powerball and 3 Mega Millions winners. Neither of these indicate an increased frequency of winners.
• The average winning jackpot sizes of Powerball has increased from $92.2 to $95.5 million. Conversely, the average winning Mega Millions jackpots dropped from $95.6 to $76.5 million since the expansion.
• Similarily, the average growth of each Powerball jackpot rose nearly $10 million since the expansion (rom $11.6 to $21.5 million).  Mega Million jackpot has grown as well, but only by $2.75 million (from $11.3 to $14M), a much smaller pace.

Based on the growth rates of the Jackpot sizes, it appears that Powerball has been the more popular game, and has profited most from the expansion.  Although the chances of winning Powerball is much higher than Mega Millions, I think this is attributed to:

1. It's name (Powerball seems more attractive?)
2. The overall chances of winning a Powerball prize are lower.
3. The tickets are easier to read and fill out.
4. The Powerplay Option guarantees 2nd place winners $1 million (it's not a gamble).

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Let's see if things change in the future.

JL.....

Has the Lottery Expansion Changed the Jackpot Sizes? (Lottery Trivia Question 2010-08)

This week's Lottery Trivia Question is about Mega Millions and Powerball.

Our Trivia Question #2010-08 is: 

At the end of January 2010, both Powerball and Mega Millions began selling their games in each other's states, but did not change the format of the games. Since it is now nearly three months later, we wondered:

• How has the increased playing population affected the jackpot winning frequencies?
• Have the average jackpots gotten smaller?
• What is the average growth of the jackpot prizes?
• Which game appears to be more popular?

Enter your answer by leaving a Comment to this post below. Leave your name, and if you have a website or blog, provide it's URL and name.

We will provide the correct answer next Monday, April 26th, and will post your name and a URL link back to your site.

JL.........