Thursday, Aug. 25, 2005 | 9:45 a.m.
BISMARCK, N.D. -- Powerball is getting a makeover that will bring larger, faster-growing jackpots and larger prizes that will be more difficult to win, lottery officials say.
Starting Sunday, the jackpot will start at $15 million rather than the current $10 million.
Another change will provide players with the opportunity to win $1 million.
For an additional $1 players can add Power Play to their Powerball tickets. Adding Power Play guarantees that any Powerball prize except for the jackpot will be multiplied by up to five times.
For example, if the Powerball ticket matches all five white ball numbers, the player wins $200,000. If he or she chose to play Power Play when buying the Powerball ticket and the Power Play number came up five, the $200,000 is multiplied by five and the player wins $1 million.
To increase the average jackpot size, two white-ball numbers will be added, changing the jackpot odds from 1 in 120.5 million to 1 in 146.1 million.
archive
