What won this week: The winning Powerball and Mega Millions numbers

The most recent winning numbers for the Powerball were 15, 20, 29, 31 and 40 for the white balls, with 1 as the power ball for the draw on the 14th of October 2015. For the Mega Millions, the winning numbers were 7, 9, 24, 38 and 52 for the white balls, with 1 as the yellow ball for the draw on the 13th of October 2015.

Playing the Odds

Did your lucky numbers win big this time? For the Powerball, the odds of winning a prize (of any size) is 1 in 24.87, or just over 4%. For the Mega Millions, these odds are slightly better, with 1 out of every 14.7 games winning a prize of any size. These odds decrease drastically as the prize values get bigger.

The odds of winning the jackpot in the Powerball are 1 in 292 201 338. You are more likely to get attacked by a shark (with odds of 1 in 11 000 000), or become the President of the United States (with odds of 1 in 10 000 000). Winning the Mega Millions is, again, slightly more likely, with odds of 1 in 258 890 850. Were either of these draws your lucky draw?

The Recent Changes to Powerball

In case you were not aware, Powerball recently changed the number of both the red and the white balls. The number of white balls has been increased to 69, and the number of red balls has decreased to 29. This has been done to increase the number of jackpot winners, and improve the overall chance of winning a prize in the Powerball draw. Now might be the time to start playing Powerball – you have even more chance of winning!

Three Things to Remember When Playing the Lottery

With the increased chance of winning in Powerball, you might be considering playing the lottery for the first time, or you might be a seasoned player of many years. Either way, here are some things to keep in mind when playing any lottery:

• The games are all completely random, so the results of one week do not affect any other week. Even if your lucky numbers win this week, they have just as much chance of winning next week.
• There are no secret strategies to winning any lottery. This is linked to the point above – all draws are random, and there is no bias towards any particular demographic group. Likewise, you cannot ‘beat the lottery’ by playing a system of any kind. The lottery is not like games such as poker, where there is skill involved. Just play your numbers, have fun, and hope that you win.
• Your money goes to helping others. Even though a portion of each game goes to the prize pool for that particular game, a large part of lotteries is the fact that they support non-profit organizations across America. Buying a lottery ticket is more than just buying a chance at a dream win – it is helping our great country.

There are many reasons to play the lottery. You could do it for the chance to win a fortune. You could do it as a family pastime. You might have started doing it since Powerball changed their balls. Whatever your reasons, keep these three points in mind, and keep an eye out for the next draw’s Powerball and Mega Millions results.