Powerball manipulated its drawing nearly two years ago – making it
more difficult to win the jackpot and leading to gigantic prizes for
those who do,
The Washington Post reported.
The $700 million prize for Wednesday’s drawing is the second largest
lottery jackpot in the game’s history, according to the newspaper.
But two years ago, the odds of becoming an instant millionaire were 1
in about 175 million, the Post said. The odds now have increased to
roughly 1 in 292 million.
The number of total balls in play increased from 59 to 69 in October
2015 making it more difficult to win, the newspaper said.
As a result, the game rolls over to the gigantic prizes.
Forty-seven state lotteries participate in Powerball,
the Daily News in New York reported. It has
been updated periodically to delivery bigger jackpots, the newspaper
noted.
If no one wins on Wednesday, the jackpot will likely surpass the
$1.6 billion prize as the biggest ever, the Post reported.
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