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April
06, 2005
NEW
PLAYER-DRIVEN CHANGES TO POWERBALL® GAME
WILL GENERATE LARGER JACKPOTS, FASTER
Dover, DE -- The 29 lotteries that
operate POWERBALL® voted to change the nation's first
big, multi-state jackpot game to meet player demand for larger
and faster growing jackpots. The new changes being announced
today, and taking effect August 28, 2005, will offer larger
jackpots and the potential for creating many $1 million winners
from players selecting the Power Play multiplier with their
Powerball tickets.
New changes to the POWERBALL® game will include an increased
starting jackpot of $15 million; the current jackpot starts
at $10 million. Jackpots will increase by no less than $5
million per drawing compared with the current minimum increase
of $2 million per drawing. In addition to the higher $15 million
starting jackpot and the minimum $5 million rollover, winners
who match all five white balls (second prize level) will enjoy
a cash award increase from $100,000 to $200,000. This increase
will allow players who add an additional $1 for the Power
Play option the opportunity to multiply their winnings by
five and win up to $1 million.
"Lotteries that participate in the Powerball game continuously
monitor player preferences in their home states to learn of
possible changes that will help Powerball remain the most
popular jackpot game in the country," said Wayne Lemons,
Delaware Lottery Director. "All Lottery games, including
Powerball, need to be changed over their life as populations
change and players seek new and larger prizes from big jackpot
games," said Lemons.
Since the start of POWERBALL® in 1992, there have been
four updates to the game structure. In order to offer these
new adjustments, players will select five of 55, instead of
five of 53 white balls. The player selection of the red POWERBALL
will remain unchanged at one of 42 numbers. The overall odds
of winning a cash prize will remain virtually the same, 1
in 36.60 up slightly from the current 1 in 36.06. Odds of
winning a jackpot prize will change to 1 in 146.1 million
from the current 1 in 120.5 million.
"We're very excited about these new changes to POWERBALL®,
Lemons said. "We believe the changes will offer our players
more opportunities and winning experiences like Delaware's
217 past winners of the $100,000 prize level and 6 past Powerball
jackpot winners."
Since the start of operations in 1975, the Delaware Lottery
has contributed more than
$1.8 billion to the state's General Fund to help finance needed
state services that benefit everyone in Delaware. The Lottery
offers a variety of games: POWERBALL®, MULTI-WIN LOTTO,
PLAY 3, PLAY 4, and assorted Instant Games.
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