More Drawings Being Added In Powerball And Lucky For Life

Two of the Iowa Lottery’s popular lotto games will get additional drawings starting this summer.

Powerball® will move to drawings three times a week with a new Monday drawing being added to those currently held on Wednesday and Saturday nights.  And Lucky for Life® will move from two drawings per week to drawings each night.

The changes are designed to produce more winners, and in the case of Powerball, generate larger, faster-growing jackpots

The Lucky for Life update will happen first, with that game moving to daily drawings beginning on Monday, July 19. Lucky for Life’s current drawings are on Mondays and Thursdays. The change will give that game’s players a daily shot at winning its top prize of $1,000 a day for the rest of their lives.

Then in August, Powerball will move from two drawings per week up to three, with its first Monday drawing set for Aug. 23.

While the additional drawings will create more chances to win, they won’t change the game's prize levels, odds of winning, or ticket price.

Players in $2 Powerball will still choose their first five numbers from a pool of 69, and another number – called the Powerball – from a separate pool of 26. The Power Play® option is available for an extra $1 per play.

Lucky for Life players will continue to choose their first five numbers from a pool of 48 and another number – called the Lucky Ball – from a separate pool of 18. Lucky for Life is a $2 game where the top two prize levels are described as “lasting as long as you do,” meaning that they are truly for life. The game has been played in Iowa since 2016.

Comments

[Mary Neubauer]

Hello again, Kay. I believe you are confusing details of the multiplier features in Powerball and Mega Millions. If you purchase the multiplier option in Powerball and win a prize at the Match 5 level, which normally would be $1 million, your prize will be multiplied to $2 million with the Power Play. In Mega Millions, the Megaplier option at the Match 5 level can multiply the prize involved up to $5 million. There are some differences in the games' prize structures, and that is one of them. The other details that I've shared here on the blog regarding the jackpot changes are correct. When I had initially blogged about the changes back on April 2, 2020, you had commented at the time and asserted that a change was being made to the Power Play options. I replied at that time and shared that the Power Play feature remained unchanged. That is still the case.

[Kay]

I cannot tell whether you are uninformed or obtuse but judging from previous blogs where you choose (as you did here) to answer a completely different question than what was asked, I’m going with obtuse. . So let ME clarify:

1. The changes to Powerball and Megamillions were supposed to be temporary and done in response to COVID. You can read about that in you own blog here: https://www.ialotteryblog.com/2020/04/further-powerball-changes-coming-were-offering-free-plays-to-multi-draw-players.html
At that time, the prizes were scaled back because people were not buying tickets. Now, we have a booming economy and prizes are still growing much more slowly. Someone has to be benefiting from this and it is certainly not the players.

2. When the changes were made in 2020, Powerball stopped applying the multiplier to the second place prize. The multiplier used to be apply to that prize so if a 4x multiplier were rolled the second place prize would be $4 million dollars. This is no longer happening.

So when are the state lotteries going to hold the PB and Mm accountable for these supposed temporary changes due to COVID?

3. Where is all the extra money going now that the economy is booming? And please, no obtuse answered here.

[Mary Neubauer]

Hi, Kay. Just to clarify, no change has been made to the second-prize multiplier in Powerball. It remains the same as it has been for years. Regarding the jackpot changes that were made in 2020, sales and interest rates determine the starting jackpot amounts in Powerball and Mega Millions, as well as the rate at which the jackpots increase between drawings. The process put in place in the games last year and is necessary to ensure that sales can support the games’ jackpots a well as their other prize levels. The design of the games and the prizes they offer are based upon mathematics. And in the months since the changes were put in place, interest rates have remained low while lotto sales overall have remained soft. Consumer behavior in that regard has not yet returned to pre-pandemic norms. We understand that folks want bigger, faster-growing jackpots, and that is one of the factors behind the decision to add another drawing in Powerball each week starting later this summer.

[Kay]

When will the state lotteries hold powerball accountable for the changes they made to the jackpots and the second prize multiplier? This was supposed to be a temporary change due to Covid. The economy is booming now and the prize levels haven’t gone back to normal, what gives?

[Mary Neubauer]

I like your style, Kevin. And you are right: Playing the lottery is an option, just like anything else you choose to buy as a consumer. It is not a requirement, and we know that. It sounds like you have a plan, and you have fun while you play. That's exactly what we want to see! Thank you for playing and we hope to see YOU as a big winner soon.