Do you ever dream of becoming a millionaire? Or maybe you already have that big house, the fancy car, and the lifestyle that only a millionaire can have? But would it be all worth losing just because of the chance to win the Powerball? I know I would, and yet while it may be easy to play the game, winning is where it’s at.
Of course, there are other lotteries out there that offer greater odds of winning. For example, the Powerball offers odds of approximately 1-in-195-million, while the Florida Lotto gives players odds of approximately 1-in-175-million. But is that really the big deal? Taking the $5000 Powerball out of the equation, the odds of winning the Lotto are approximately 1-in-40. That’s hardly worth losing $5000 for a chance to win $1 million.
The Powerball also has the reputation of being played more frequently than the lottery. Each week, there are approximately 150 million unique Powerball combinations. The Florida Lotto, on the other hand, is played twice a week, with approximately 30 million unique combinations. That’s less players, more draw dates, and less winners.
Some Florida Lottery competitors will be joining the Powerball game this year. That means that the number of games available to play will have increased by 60 percent. The Weather Service in Tallahassee predicts that during the months of July and August, the lottery will draw twice as many games as it normally does.
As described above, the Florida Lottery is one of the biggest state lotteries in the nation. It is created and run by the state itself. The first games were drawn in November 1992. The Florida Fantasy 5 began in 1999 and still is in operation. The Powerball, on the other hand, was introduced in January of 2002.
As described above, more people play the Florida Lottery than any other state lottery. Why is that? What makes this state different from others?
In essence, what makes Florida Lottery different is that it is both a lot bigger than some of the other state lotteries and the way the game is run is slightly different from most other state lotteries.
In most states, ticket sales represent a percentage of overall sales for the lottery. Therefore, if ticket sales represent 5% of overall sales, then the lottery itself is 5% of overall sales. In Florida, however, the ticket sales represent 100% of overall sales, meaning that the lottery actually costs less than the state is spending on it. From a dollar per ticket, the lottery saves $1.7 million dollars each year in the funding department.
FLORIDA fills about 24% of its operating budget from ticket sales and incurs debt in the form of unsold inventory. In order to make up for the losses that Florida incur from its lottery, the state of Florida has either had to draw more funds from other popular gambling games, create a new game, incurring more debt, or obtain andorb revenue to help cover the funds.
The Florida Lotto for example, is a 6 out of 56 game. FLORIDA rolls along during the summer months, generating an estimated $15 billion in sales, yet loses money for the express reason that there are no jackpots to be had. So, for example, in June of 2006, despite there being 8,773,ata was certified as the top lottery draw in the country for the month, the Jackpot went unclaimed. During that drawing, the top prize was an impressive $53,200,000.
The Florida Lotto, in their infinite wisdom, has chosen to double the odds of winning the game, from 1 in 17,000,000 to 1 in 512,000,000. Why is this a bad idea? Why would anybody increase the odds of losing a lottery game?
If the odds of winning a lottery were as high as 1 in 17,000,000, then the game would have the same sell-out as the PowerBall. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a PowerBall sale go unclaimed.
FLORIDA gets it right. The odds of winning the lottery are better than you think. You can better their odds and not play like you are playing against the house.
If you win the Florida lottery and you spend $1,000,000, you could become one of the least favorite people in America. The least favorite person in America would be you, because you have no chance of winning the Powerball jackpot.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 35,900,000, or better than a million to one. You are 45 times more likely to get struck by lightning than you are of winning the Powerball jackpot.
Good luck Florida!
