Powerball will add a Monday evening draw to existing draws on Wednesday and Saturday evenings beginning the night of Monday, Aug. 23.
The multi-state lottery said it will also offer Double Play, an add-on feature that will give players a second crack at winning with the same numbers for an additional $1, in 13 jurisdictions—including Michigan.
According to the non-profit Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which runs Powerball, the Double Play drawing will be held on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings immediately after the Powerball drawing. A top cash prize of $10 million will be available for those who select the Double Play option.
While the Double Play draw will not be televised, it will be live streamed on Powerball.com. The Monday Powerball drawings will be broadcast live at 10:59 pm ET by participating television stations, just like the drawings on Wednesday and Saturday evenings.
Powerball tickets that include the Double Play option will be eligible to win prizes in both drawings.
“Players get excited about the chance to win life-changing sums of money,” Jake Harris, spokesman for the Michigan Lottery, told MI Gaming Review. “Powerball certainly offers that with jackpots that start at $20 million. We anticipate this change will help jackpots grow faster and offer players an additional chance to win, not just the jackpot but other prizes as well.
May Scheve Reardon, Powerball Product Group Chair, echoed that sentiment.
“America’s jackpot game is picking up the pace to keep up with player demand—going from two drawings a week to six, if you include Double Play,” she said. “Players have let us know they want to play for bigger jackpots and cash prizes, and we want Powerball to deliver on their expectations.”
Besides Michigan, Double Play will initially be available in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Washington. The MUSL said the option may be offered in additional jurisdictions in the future. Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The MUSL said its Powerball Product Group anticipates that adding a Monday drawing for Powerball will result in larger, faster-growing jackpots, as well as an increase in the number of cash prizes and jackpots awarded on an annual basis. The non-profit added that the third drawing will not change the odds of winning a Powerball game, nor will it affect cash prizes offered in the original draws.
Players currently can add a Powerplay option for an additional $1. Powerplay multiplies non-jackpot prizes up to 10 times to a maximum of $2 million. Powerplay will not apply to Double Play prizes.
Shortly after taking the helm of the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) last May, executive director Henry Williams said the agency would partner with the Michigan Lottery and the state’s Department of Health and Human Services to address problem gambling issues.
At the time, Williams said he believed the Wolverine State would join an interstate compact to share liquidity for online poker by the end of the year.
