MegaMillions and Powerball Jackpots Both Pass $100million

Wednesday April 24^th 2013

Both multi-state US lotteries, the Powerball and the MegaMillions, have passed the $100million jackpot mark this week as they continue to roll over. The MegaMillions jackpot has been elusive for the last twelve draws and has generated a current estimated jackpot of $103 million. However, the Powerball jackpot is storming ahead, topping $116 million after just six rollovers. The Powerball jackpot has seen unprecedented growth since the state of California joined the lottery just several weeks ago, but why?

California has roughly 30 million inhabitants, making up approximately 12% of the American population. When the state joined the Powerball on 8th April 2013, it began selling Powerball tickets alongside MegaMillions tickets across its 20,000 retailers, and saw an unprecedented number of ticket sales in its first week (over $8 million). Lottery experts predict that the Powerball will now regularly see bigger jackpots, which could, according to some estimates, increase by as much as 12%.

This could mean that if the jackpot reaches the heady heights of $587 million again (like it did in November 2012), the top prize could reach almost $650 million. Despite the cost of a Powerball ticket being higher than that of a MegaMillions ticket, the rollover jackpots of the Powerball have the potential to generate much bigger top prizes, as is evident from this latest rollover session.

Comparing the jackpots after twelve rollovers of the MegaMillions to the six of the Powerball, it is no surprise players – including Californians – are opting into the Powerball.

Written by Chris Brown

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