The national lotto game of Powerball has the odds of winning div 1 of about 10 with 40 zeros after it.
The base prize is A$3 mil. Typically it jackpots week on week, which with odds like that is easy to understand. For the past the jackpot has grown like this: $3mil, $6mil, $9mil, $15mil, $20mil, $27mil and $30mil. It has never reached more than $30mil so who knows what would come next. Like tennis scores; 15, 30, 40, Game. Is game 50, 60, 55? Who knows? Or cares.
For the first time in recent years, the jackpot this week is not $9mil, but only $8mil. When I say only $8,000,000 I still mean I would love to win, but it’s not the $9mil it should be.
With the recent 25 basis point increase in interest rates (plus another being touted before Xmas) and the oil company/goverment profiteering at the petrol bowser could it be that people are spending less on gambling, so much so that the prize pool has dried up that much?
There is also a state Lotto draw this week that is $22mil. Historically, a promotional campign would focus on a draw of $25mil or even $30mil.
The Powerball Economy Meter – more accurate that any economist.