Anyone else happen to notice just how much some wins in
NZ Lotto & Powerball have diminished in the past month ?
You aren't mistaken - the long arm of the NZ Lotteries Commission
appears to taken away more than it has enhanced Lotto & Powerball
Taken away or downgraded:
Big Wednesday - Gone
Lotto Division 1 Jackpot forward if unwon - gone
Powerball - Division 2-6 Prizes all heavily reduced
Reduced Variety of offering With demise of Big Wednesday and removal of
Lotto Division 1 jackpotting, Powerball is now the sole NZ Lottery offering more
than $1 million prize.
Enhancements:
Wednesday Lotto draw introduced (roughly 1/2 support of Saturaday draws)
Powerball new division 7 introduced paying $12 per win
Unchanged:
Lotto Odds - unchanged
Powerball Odds - unchanged at 10x the Lotto Odds
Lotto per line price - 60c per line - unchanged
Powerball per line price - 60c per line in addition to Lotto line price - unchanged
The changes have resulted in:
1. Three Lotto Division 1 winners miss out on a total of $4 million which they would have won, if Division 1 had continued jackpotting in just the month of October
2. Severely reduced wins for all Division 2-7 Powerball Winners
Average recent wins:
Division 2: $4356 (was $27000 across 6 months before)
Division 3: $ 381 (was $1560 across 6 months before)
Division 4: $ 21 (was $ 142 across 6 months before)
Division 5: $ 11 (was $ 66 across 6 months before)
Division 6: $ 10 (was $ 49 across 6 months before )
3. Creation of new $12 Lowest division
Division 7: $ 12 95,600 new winners across 8 recent draws
Average Division 2-7 win for the 8 recent draws after changes $12.38
Average Division 2-6 win across 6 months before changes was $85.99
On unchanged Powerball Odds of 10x those for Lotto, and for the unchanged 60c additional
per line cost, the Average Win or Prize after changes in most recent 8 draws is now just 14.4% of what it was for Divisions 2-7
Have NZ Powerball players been ripped off, as a result of these changes ?
With effect from 7 October 2015, a Rule change for Lotto & Powerball approved by the Minister & sanctioned by Parliament approved changes to Lotto & Powerball rules
This included adjustment of Powerball Prize Pools from previous pool allocations:
Division 1: 85.74% of Prize Pool
Division 2: 2.23% of Prize Pool
Division 3: 2.23% of Prize Pool
Division 4: 0.60% of Prize Pool
Division 5: 4.64% of Prize Pool
Division 6: 4.56% of Prize Pool
to new Powerball Allocations:
Division 1: 96.86% of Prize Pool *
Division 2: 0.47% of Prize Pool *
Division 3: 0.45% of Prize Pool *
Division 4: 0.11% of Prize Pool *
Division 5: 0.94% of Prize Pool *
Division 6: 1.17% of Prize Pool *
* after allocation of amount to pay out the new Division 7 $12 fixed prizes
The net result is very diminished Division 2-6 Prize pools and fiercely trimmed wins across these divisions down to between 13.9% and 25.5% of what these prizes were before (at the same unchanged odds for the same 60c Powerball per line cost)
Can anyone else see that NZ Lotteries Commission are now offering a downgraded Lotto and Powerball product for the same odds and prices as was offered before ?
M
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