Powerball Jackpot Odds Longer; Winner Chances Improve

INDIANAPOLIS -- The odds of winning a Powerball prize will be slightly improved and jackpots will be larger beginning with Wednesday night's drawing, but the chance of winning the jackpot has decreased.

Hoosiers who play the game regularly said the changes are welcomed, 6News' Julie Pursley reported.

"The starting jackpot will go from $15 million to $20 million, which will be the largest starting jackpot out of any lottery in the world," said Andrew Reed, of the Hoosier Lottery.

Powerball added the state of Florida to its roster of 30 states, plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The drawings were moved to Orlando from Iowa, and the odds of winning a prize will improve to 1 in 35, but the odds of claiming the big prize are down.

"The odds of winning the jackpot did increase with the population … 1 in 195 million," Reed said.

Lottery officials said the average winning jackpot prize will balloon from about $95 million to $141 million.

"We expect to have multiple $100 million-plus jackpots a year," Reed said. "It should be a really, really fun game for our players."

Indiana remains the No. 1 state in the number of Powerball jackpot winners with 35.

The Hoosier Lottery jackpot Wednesday night is $3.5 million, while Powerball's big prize is $105 million.