Changes to Powerball…Effective January 4, 2009
On January 4, 2009, the Powerball game changed. Some white ball numbers were added to make the jackpots bigger and some of the red ball numbers were subtracted to create more winners (over 3.5 million more winners per year at the same sales level). The new Powerball will be a 59/39 game.
The Power Play option will continue, except that they will now always draw a 5X for the second prize (Match 5+0). That means that when you win the second prize and have also purchased the Power Play option, your $200,000 will automatically become $1 million; every time. And this prize is paid in cash.
The Power Play option will still offer the chance of drawing the multipliers 2X, 3X, 4X, or 5X for the other set prize levels, but the second prize will never be less than 5X.
They know that most folks only play for the big jackpot, but they want to create many more millionaires in the game so don’t forget to check your ticket for the other prize levels. The starting jackpot will also be bumped from a guaranteed $15 million to a guaranteed $20 million.
