MegaMillions is changing (for the worse)

[JEDI]

http://www.calottery.com/play/draw-games/mega-millions/changes

Changes coming to MEGA Millions on October 19th:
• The starting Jackpot is changing to $15 million from $12 million.
• The field of numbers to choose from is changing from 1 through 56, to 1 through 75.
• The MEGA number field is changing from 1 through 46, to 1 through 15.
• The overall odds of winning any prize are changing from 1 in 40, to 1 in 15.
• The odds of winning a jackpot are changing from 1 in 176 million, to 1 in 259 million.
• The jackpot annuity payout is changing from 26 years to 30 years.


so basically there's more chances of a $1B jackpot annuity.
also, the cash option will be smaller because they are using 30yrs instead of 26yrs to calc the annuity


"More chances to win"
Nice marketing...


for historical ref:
current Mega prizes

edit:
so the first game w/the new prize structure is this tues, 10/22.

odds:
http://www.megamillions.com/how-to-play

 

[EagleKeeper]

They are speaking the truth.

How many times have you one anyhow; as if the small changes will fatten your wallet.

 

[Craig234]

Bad goes to worse deal. Don't buya ticket either way. Tax on the poor.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Bad goes to worse deal. Don't buya ticket either way. Tax on the stupid.

Fixy.

 

[MustISO]

Won't really change anything for me but I would like to see more people win rather than one person win some stupid amount of money.
Love to hear the stories of the 10 or 20 people who all walk away with 5 million rather than one person who gets it all.
Granted that one person could change the lives of 100 people if they chose to.

 

[JEDI]

Won't really change anything for me but I would like to see more people win rather than one person win some stupid amount of money.
Love to hear the stories of the 10 or 20 people who all walk away with 5 million rather than one person who gets it all.
Granted that one person could change the lives of 100 people if they chose to.

unfortunately, the target segment who buy lotto only care about the big # and don't get as excited about the smaller prizes.

so if they wont sell as many tix if smaller 1st prize but bigger 2nd + 3rd prizes.

 

[EagleKeeper]

People are going to not play at $200M but instead choose to wait and play when it gets to $250

You have a lot to learn about greed.

The annuity means you get a smaller amount(by 10%) for 30 years. How does it affect the cash option? which is supposed to get you the same amount you would get over a 30 year term.

 

[brianmanahan]

lottery is already bad, unless you like paying more taxes

at it's core it is just a voluntary tax

 

[Red Squirrel]

US Lotto is a joke anyway, half your winnings go in the government's pockets.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

People are going to not play at $200M but instead choose to wait and play when it gets to $250

You have a lot to learn about greed.

The annuity means you get a smaller amount(by 10%) for 30 years. How does it affect the cash option? which is supposed to get you the same amount you would get over a 30 year term.

The reported jackpot is the straight sum of the annuity payments, where the cash option is basically the present value (i.e. sum of discounted cash flows) of the annuity.

 

[StrangerGuy]

lottery is already bad, unless you like paying more taxes

at it's core it is just a voluntary tax

Heck, most casino gamblers don't even bother learning basic strategy on Blackjack when it reduces the house edge to a mere ~0.4%. Some people just really don't like money.

 

[brianmanahan]

US Lotto is a joke anyway, half your winnings go in the government's pockets.

even if there is no tax, the government is still gonna come out on top - otherwise they wouldnt do it

 

[Craig234]

The lottery isn't about giving the government money in the US, it's about whatever cause it goes to like schools.

But the reason it gets lobbied for to begin with is the company who makes the money selling tickets.

 

[MontyAC]

They just want to suck in money.

 

[Maleficus]

It's not like you don't know what you are getting into when you buy a lotto ticket. I don't really care if the odds are near infinite against.

 

[Doppel]

Tax on the stupid goes up. Stupid don't know/care, keep paying.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

I do think these are good changes for the lotto from a business perspective. No one is really going to notice the decrease in odds for the jackpot or the change in the annuity calculation. However, the increasing frequency of small prizes will keep people playing over time.

 

[Wreckem]

Here is the current and future prize structure

Match 5+0: $250,000/$1,000,000
Match 4+MB: $10,000/$5,000
Match 4+0: $150/$500
Match 3+MB: $150/$50
Match 3+0: $7/$5
Match 2+MB: $10/$5
Match 1+MB: $3/$2
Match 0+MB: $2/$1

Two of the prizes are going up(match 5 and match 4), while everything else is going down. The odds of winning are much more unlikely(outside of matching the MB) but the prizes go down? That is total crap, I guess it is their way of trying to nudge you toward spending $2 a ticket with megaplier. Yes with megaplier you could now win $5million with match 5, but again, the odds have gone up dramatically on match 5 so EVEN less people will hit it than before, and not many people have hit match 5 in megamillions existence. The annuity going to 30 years and cash value being based on 30 years instead of 26 is also crap but will now be in line with Powerball.

There will definitely be $1billion jackpots.

 

[spamtly]

A friend of mine got 5 out of 5 (and no mega number) on the Powerball and won $500,000. Boy was he dumb.

 

[Jeff7]

Tax on the stupid goes up. Stupid don't know/care, keep paying.

"I've got a system!"

"I have to win eventually! That's just how these number games work."

"God won't let me down. I'll get it one of these days."



And of course the increased chance of winning something is to get those people to think, "Oh darn, I was so close. If I buy even more tickets next time, I'll be certain to win big!"

 

[Sonikku]

Bad changes are always bundled as a good change by those trying to sell us on it. It's the same with politics. Call ripping out Social Securities spine the "Destruction of SS" and people will resist. Call it the "Saving" of Social Security however and well, that's just plain heroic.

 

[Wreckem]

"I've got a system!"

"I have to win eventually! That's just how these number games work."

"God won't let me down. I'll get it one of these days."



And of course the increased chance of winning something is to get those people to think, "Oh darn, I was so close. If I buy even more tickets next time, I'll be certain to win big!"

Technically, the increased chance of winning is for basically only for a $1 prize and the $1million prize(before you had to match all 5 numbers and then hope the megaplier was 4, which the odds of that are worse than the new system, that said the odds of matching 5 on the old system for $250k is MUCH MUCH MUCH better than match 5 on the new system. More than twice as likely IIRC. In reality the odds are so damn high on the $1million prize, the only real increased chance of winning is $1(1 in 15), whoopity.

 

[JEDI]

so the first game w/the new prize structure is this tues, 10/22.

odds:
http://www.megamillions.com/how-to-play

 

[ultimatebob]

Eh... at least it's still a dollar, unlike Powerball.

 

[KK]

Anybody here win the jackpot yet?