Powerball Redesign: Jackpot Swells to $360 Million, 9 Ways to Win
The designers of the Powerball Jackpot have credited a re-design of the game for the new, swelling jackpots in the game.
The Powerball Jackpot is estimated to reach $360 million before Wednesday night's drawing. The pot is the third highest in Powerball history, but higher jackpots have become more consistent overall based on the numbers. The swelling pots are no accident, according to officials, who credit the high payouts to a 2012 redesign of the game.
Last January, the structure of the game was altered, allowing players to win small amounts even without winning the entire jackpot. Increased odds of a player winning something from the game appear to have encouraged more people to play says one lotto official.
"It usually took a handful of months, if not several months, for a jackpot to reach this large amount," Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer told the Associated Press. "Now it's achieving that within a handful of weeks. I think the redesign is achieving exactly what we had wanted it to achieve, which is the bigger, faster-growing jackpot."
In the last drawing, which took place on May 11, nearly 1.5 million people took some sort of prize home. There are nine ways that players can win with the lowest prize coming in at $4, just enough to play again. While no one won the full jackpot on Saturday, over $25 million in prizes were declared according to Powerball.com. Currently, Powerball tickets are available in 43 states. The biggest Powerball jackpot ever totaled $587.5 million.
"It's really unfathomable the amount of money this is putting out," Tom Powers, a janitor from Omaha, Neb., who bought several tickets Tuesday from a convenience store, told Fox News.
He'll be walking away from his work if he win the pot, he told the station.
