I agree with you, and so do most folks.....if they don't win. The trouble is when buying, a lot of people are motivated by greedy dreams and they won't buy if the jackpots aren't high. I work in the industry, and it's called "Jackpot Fatigue". The reason they keep changing the odds to make the jackpot harder to hit is so the amounts will keep going up. No one buys at 20 million or even 100 million anymore...they all say "we wait for it to get big before we play"....like 20 mil wouldn't change their lives. You have the same odds per play no matter what the jackpot is....and with fewer players, you are less likely to have to split the prize.

The only smart play is to keep your money in your pocket.

I knew this guy well before he went to prison. Once the state released the audio of the purchase, many of us in the industry knew who it was right off the bat.

For all of the winner stories here......I am the only true winner. They pay me to work here! lol Been in the industry for many years after retiring from State Law Enforcement. I thank you all every two weeks....lol

Seriously though, there is a lot of mis-information all over the place, including this thread. I can answer any questions except "how do I win?"....I hear that every day of the week from any new person I meet. If I had that answer, I would be on a beach somewhere or in prison with Eddie.

Actually, there is a ton of effort that goes into making sure it is not rigged. A lot of work goes into separation of duties and making sure no one person has all of the pieces to the puzzle. In the case of Eddie Tipton (the guy who rigged those drawings)....he didn't really find a vulnerability, he kind of created it himself. He worked for MUSL, which is the regulatory agency that oversees many of the different state draws. They are supported by the participating lotteries, and started out overseeing Powerball. Eddie and his partner (also named Ed ) were the guys that traveled around the country to audit the lotteries and make sure they were following all of the rules set out to keep anyone from rigging things. They were supposed to be the 'watchers" and above reproach, and that obviously was not the case. Because multi-state draw games became so popular in being able to drive bigger jackpots, the industry looked to MUSL more and more to oversee all of those drawings. Eddie helped to develop the electronic draw solutions they put into place, and he was able to insert malicious code to allow him to predict some numbers for specific draws. He had more "pieces" than he should have....such as managing the servers controlling the building camera system, code compiling, etc....so while they were making sure the lotteries were following all of the rules, they were not necessarily held to the same standard. In the end, he got caught like they all do.....by getting greedy. He thought he was smarter than everyone else, and he was for a while. so long as their are millions and millions at stake, there will be someone trying to figure out a way to rig the system to their favor. They always get caught in the end.

I am not an advocate for gambling, nor am I against it. I think what people do for entertainment is their own business, so long as they operate within their means and aren't doing anything illegal or asking for a bailout. I always get a kick out of the folks that tell me "I only play when it gets above $500 million"....like the base $10 million wouldn't be a life-changing event for 99% of us. either play or don't....but never base it on the jackpot. There is actually less chance you will have to split a smaller jackpot, since there are fewer people playing. And if you are going to play, then play your in-state games. they usually have much better odds (still astronomical). Granted, the jackpots are not near as high, but having a million in your pocket is worth much more than a $500 Million dream.

I will save scratch tickets for another day.........lol