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Chances of winning smaller Powerball prizes are better than ever

Posted at 4:28 PM, Aug 23, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-23 16:28:48-04

With tonight’s Powerball at $700 million dollars, this is the second largest jackpot in history. But, many are saying it’s harder to strike it rich now than ever before. 

Two years ago the lottery changed its matrix. The chance of winning the Powerball jackpot used to be one in 175 million. But, since the recent changes, the chance of winning the Powerball is one in 292 million. 

The changes that were made had to do with the white and red powerballs. The lottery added more white balls to the drawing and took away a few of the red balls. That left players with a greater chance of winning the small tiered prizes and a lower chance of winning the jackpot. 

Val Beck with the Colorado Lottery says, “You can win anywhere from $4.00 to $2 million. That doesn’t sound too lower tiered to me.” 

The last chance to buy a Powerball ticket for tonight’s drawing is 9:30 pm Eastern time. Any ticket purchased after that time will go towards Saturday’s drawing.

If no one wins tonight’s Powerball, the jackpot will likely rise to $1 billion dollars this Saturday.