There have been so many winners that Powerball officials are considering raising the odds and effectively making it harder to win. If the current winning pace continues for the rest of the year, they stand to lose around $400 million. So why would making the Powerball harder to win draw more people to purchase tickets? “Frequent” winners result in relatively small jackpots. Raising the odds would make it harder to win and should, theoretically, result in bigger jackpots. And, I guess, big jackpots attract those people that don’t want to waste their money on the small money jackpots. Why spend $2 (or whatever it costs) to try and win $50 million when you can spend the same $2 and try and win $300 million. Granted, someone has to win eventually, but with the odds already at 1 in 120 million, you are much more likely to get struck by lightning (1 in 2.3 million) or writing a New York Times best seller (1 in 220) than win the lottery.

The Odds
Powerball jackpot winners on a streak
Powerball: Too Many Winners?