Posted on 01/15/2012 6:11:17 PM PST by Libloather
Pricey picks: Powerball lottery tickets will double in price to $2 beginning in January
By Associated Press, Published: January 1
DES MOINES, Iowa — Powerball lottery organizers are betting that bigger jackpots will entice more people to play, but gamblers are going to have to dig deeper into their wallets to try their luck.
Tickets for the multistate game are doubling in price to $2 beginning Jan 15. While the odds of winning one of the game’s giant jackpots also are improving, those in charge of the lottery are gambling that people are willing to pay more for the hope of becoming a millionaire in a down economy.
“With the price of everything else going up, there’s not much you can get for a dollar anymore,” said 28-year-old Ryan Raker, of Des Moines, Iowa, who buys a ticket once a month. He says he’ll probably play less frequently now.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Duh.
I don't care if they raise the price. The drop in odds down to a MERE 175 million to 1 makes it a great investment.
If Ryan Raker needs to play less often than he currently does...just once a month....because the price of a ticket is going up $1, he probably shouldn’t be playing lottery at all.
I hope their sales drop to half. Would serve these lecherous government chiselers right to realize we the private sector are not an endless cash machine.
The lottery is the only way to tax the poor. Plus you get the added benefit if a poor person wins, there will be an explosion of spending..before he is once again poor.
Doubling the taxation on people that are bad at math.
My Powerball winnings have doubled! I used to win $1 per week by not playing; now I’ll win $2 per week!
It looks as though I will save twice as much now when I don’t buy lottery tickets.
Throw your money away twice as fast. Wise.
LOL
Throw your money away twice as fast. Wise.
Doubling the stupid tax.
And demand is pretty much inelastic.
Second prized is hosting a segment on CNBC.
Last Prize is guesting on Al Sharton's pMSNBC show.
Welfare recipients will be clamoring for a COLA (cost of lottery access) increase!
Don’t buy lottery tickets; it only affects your odds slightly.
Also the dollar amounts for the prizes haven't doubled with the new rates. Right now if you hit just the powerball number, you get $3.00, a triple gain. The new payout is $4.00, a double gain.
Plus they push the Power Play option, which made it a $2.00 bet, now it will be a $4.00 bet. I can guarantee that sales are going to drop, maybe not at first with all the promotion. But long term bets are going to drop. MegaMillions is still $1.00 and I predict more people will play it more now.
A lottery is like a stupidity tax. The more stupidity you have the more you wind up paying.
I’ve seen people with EBT cards buy food, then drop %50 on the Powerball, and another $50 in scratch offs.
But, it’s must be a REPUBLICANS fault they have no money, right?
I hate getting stuck behind the idiot at the gas station taking his time choosing scratch-offs, inquiring to the cashier as to which ones are due for a hit. Pick one already!
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