I played 5 powerball numbers, thinking it would be $5

[fried eggs]

But it was $15! I now see why the lotto is called the "poor man's tax".

[hobbit709]

1. You must have took the extra options.

[fried eggs]

4. I haven't a clue

The clerk was extremely rude and didn't explain why the price was so high. I didn't want to leave empty handed and I didn't want to start over.

[hobbit709]

12. Never get into a game of chance without knowing the rules.

[htuttle]

17. Or up against a Sicilian, if death is on the line

[Bucky]

18. .

[darkangel218]

2. It shouldve been $10

Are prices different in different states?

[RomneyLies]

14. Nope, they took the "Power Play"

The Pwoer Play allows for bigger prizes if you win anything other than the big jackpot, so if you match the five balls and do not match the Power Ball, you win at least $2 million cash.

[darkangel218]

15. Ahh i see. I never took power play, i would rather buy another set of numbers.

2 million or 4 million same thing in my book

[liberal_at_heart]

23. my one ticket cost $2 and ticket says no power play

If you want the power play it costs more, but here in WA 1 ordinary ticket with no power play costs $2.

[RomneyLies]

24. OP bought five numbers for $15. Power Play is $1. Set of numbers is $2.

Powerball is the only one that costs $2 per set of numbers. MegaMillions has something similar to the Power Play called the Megaplier but a set of numbers is only $1.

[Lisa0825]

3. They are $2 each, but there is a box to check for powerplay that is an extra dollar each.nt

[Agschmid]

5. Yah that happened to me... I ended up paying more that I meant to.

What does the PowerPLay get me?

[fried eggs]

6. I second that question

lol

[Lightbulb_on]

9. Same thing the regular option gets you...

Nada...

[Agschmid]

11. well darn.

Could have bought a pop.

[RomneyLies]

25. I've one a couple grand on the Ilinois loterry once

Matched five of six.

[doc03]

13. Power Play doubles your jackpot on the second place and under winners n/t

[PD Turk]

16. There's a multiplier

They pull a ball for the multiplier and if you have power played the ticket whatever you win gets multiplied by that number. For instance, I hit a $7 ticket a while back and had paid for the powerplay option. the multiplier ball was 5 so the ticket paid me $35. Had I not spent the extra dollar I would have only gotten $7

[Ruby the Liberal]

20. Thank you!

I just posted that I gave them $5 and they gave me a $2 ticket and a $3 ticket and I didn't know why.

This was very helpful!

[doc03]

7. It's $2 a game and $1 extra for the Power Play n/t

[quinnox]

8. yep, powerball is one of the most expensive national lottos

they used to be cheaper but raised their prices awhile back. If you want to play "powerplay" it gets even more expensive.

[CBGLuthier]

10. Gee I thought the taxes I paid on food and clothing and tires and every other damned thing was

the poor man's tax but OK. At least the lottery is optional and funds schools.

[Bucky]

19. Maybe you just don't qualify to pay the Sucker Tax.

Although, to be fair, the lottery paying mostly for schools is mostly a myth in most states.

[NightWatcher]

21. sucker, you wasted your money

cause I'm winning the Lotto tonight, 550$ million clams here I come.
Hey, buying a ticket gives you the opportunity to dream

[liberal_at_heart]

22. I bought 1 ticket. It cost me $2

That's why I only buy one ticket. You buy 5 or 10 tickets it can get expensive quick.

[cdsilv]

26. Ignorance Tax.....

or a tax on people who don't understand math. A friend of mine once commented that " if I'm going to win the lotto, I'll find the ticket in a parking lot"....

[jberryhill]

28. In progressive jackpot games, the expectation value can be over unity

But the variance is high.

That's why there have historically been lottery syndicat operations in which a pool of investors will organize to hire temps to buy hundreds of thousands of tickets on certain jackpots.

[Iggy]

27. hah hahaha!!

pls keep up with da rules...

they changed the game, upped the regular ticket price to $2 each well over a year go... leads to bigger jackpots..

I never do the power play option... $2 per ticket is a large enuf waste of my money.

[slampoet]

29. It is called the stupid tax.

I haven't heard it called the poor man's tax except by you.


Poor isn't lack of math skills, it is having no money to add or subtract.

[MrSlayer]

30. It helps to know the rules before playing any game.

It should have cost you $10 because it's $2 a play. You then also agreed to have power play put on. Any win, other than the jackpot, will now be multiplied by the power play number.

[HipChick]

31. In NYC, if I play $10, I get a free PB ticket..

[TheDebbieDee]

32. What state are you in? I'm in Missouri and I only buy tickets when the jackpot is huge!

I remember Powerball tickets were a buck apiece the last time I bought them. Now they're $2 a pop...............

[Egalitarian Thug]

33. The "I can't do math tax". But what the hell, as long as you're not going hungry to play... n/t