On January 13 the US recorded history’s biggest lottery jackpot, when US$1,586,400,000 came up for grabs in the Multi-State Lottery Association’s twice-weekly Powerball draw. The kitty was over twice as big as the previous record of US$656 million, set by another US multi-state lottery, Mega Millions, in 2012.
With so many people buying tickets, three entries turned out to have picked all of the six winning numbers needed to win the grand prize, and the money was split accordingly. That compared to nobody choosing all six in any of the nineteen previous draws, causing the jackpot to be rolled over each time.
The huge sum on offer resulted from a change in the lottery’s number generating machinery. Previously, five white balls were chosen at random from from a pool of 59, plus one red “powerball” chosen from a pool of 35. But in October last year the MSLA increased the number of white balls to 69 and reduced the red balls to 26. This lengthened the odds of choosing all six from about one in 175 million to one in 292 million, boosting the likelihood of a rollover.
The intention was to increase ticket sales and it certainly seems to have worked. Revenue from the January 13 mega-jackpot draw alone was about 80% of the US$4 billion raised over the whole of 2015, and more than Powerball’s total sales for any single year before 2010. The nationwide commotion whipped up gave rise to the bizarre spectacle of residents of Nevada, which does not participate in Powerball, driving to California to gamble after queuing up in the cold outside ticket outlets just across the border.
While casino interests keep lotteries of any kind out of Nevada, religious beliefs ensure they are banned in Alabama, Mississippi and Utah. Some of the biggest sales for Powerball come from cities bordering on all four states, according to the MSLA. In an era of tight budgets, January 13’s jackpot has therefore given ammunition to those pressuring for change.
In Alabama, Republicans and Democrats have introduced rival lottery bills for the legislative session that begins in February. Bill sponsor and Republican state Senator Jim McClendon said the January 13 jackpot highlights the huge number of Alabamans buying tickets elsewhere. In Mississippi, state representative Alyce Clarke has repeatedly sponsored a lottery bill, but says religious opposition always kills the idea. That could change this year because of Powerball, she says, enabling the state to raise money to improve its schools, and fix its roads and bridges.
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