For the fourth time in Powerball history, the jackpot crossed the $1 billion threshold after Monday's drawing revealed no winners. The prize now stands at $1.09 billion to the person who correctly guesses Wednesday night's numbers.
Starting in 2016, Powerball changed the rules, charging higher fees per ticket and making it more difficult to win. the influence? Hitting faster and bigger jackpots tempts even the most rational people.
We could continue to see jackpot numbers rise to ever more ridiculous levels even as the chances of winning remain 1 in nearly 300 million, said Jonathan Cohen, historian and author of For a Dollar and a Dream. You are twice as likely to be struck by lightning.
“There's a phenomenon called jackpot fatigue,” Cohen said. “People get used to the size of the jackpot, and then they expect a bigger amount next time.”
Why do people rejoice at an imaginary prize that is almost impossible to win?
Cohen said the lottery is a symptom of an unjust society where people believe the American dream is harder than ever to achieve. It's hard to resist the exciting lure that a $2 ticket can move you into a higher income bracket overnight, he said. Although the data is still unclear whether people are buying more lottery tickets as the economy suffers, the income available to spend on gambling declines.
State-run lotteries, such as Powerball and Mega Millions, generate some money for parks and education. Victor A. said: Matheson, an economist at College of the Holy Cross who has studied the lottery, said Americans spent $108 billion on lottery tickets in 2022, with about $25 billion generated in taxes for states.
“From the state’s perspective, this is a voluntary tax,” Matheson said. “No one is angry because no one is forcing you to buy a lottery ticket. So, if lawmakers need to raise a little money, they would rather create a lottery than raise income taxes.”
Timothy Fung, who co-directs the UCLA Addiction Psychiatry Clinic, sees the lottery as just another form of gambling.
Most of the patients Fung treats overspend on items that offer instant rewards such as slot machines or scratch-offs, as opposed to jackpots that are drawn two or three times a week. It's harder to feel bad about losing money in the lottery when you're sold on the idea than it is to still help out somewhere, Fong said.
“They say it's OK to spend money on the lottery [because you’re] “We help schools,” Fung said. “So, this is a great business tactic to get rid of any guilt.”
Does the lottery hurt or help the public good more? It's not entirely clear, Fung said.
“The lottery puts money back into gambling addiction treatment, but it represents a very small portion of that budget,” he said. Lottery games, especially scratch-offs, are very popular in low-income and non-white communities, and the result is a regressive tax that Fong fears will affect people's quality of life.
The slim odds don't seem to stop lottery players from buying more tickets when the prize reaches astronomical levels.
Cohen said these games “provide the only way for a very small investment that you have the opportunity to make billions of dollars.” “I believe it will ensure its appeal for a long time regardless of what other trends may shape the future of the lottery.”
Do the experts have any advice on improving your odds of winning?
“If you want to have a greater chance of making more money, don't pick your lucky numbers,” Matheson said. If your lucky numbers match someone else's, you will have to share your winnings, he noted, adding that choosing birthdays is also a losing strategy.
Matheson himself doesn't care about the lottery because he's done the math. “The chance of winning is almost identical whether you buy a ticket or not,” he said. “Economists, we're generally not gamblers.”
