California Lottery Realigns Cash Value Offering to Fair Market Levels

Last Friday we questioned the Saturday night California Super Lotto Plus cash value offering of $4.2M because the implied Cash to Annuity Yield was an extremely high 6.075%.

No one won the jackpot that evening, and the California Lottery increased Wednesday's Annuity to $9.0M with an estimated Cash Value or $5.4M.

While the cash value was increased a whopping $1.2M from Saturday to this coming Wednesday, this value realigns the differential between Cash and Annuity to a more rational 4.63% implied yield. Based on current interest rate levels, we believe that these offerings are more realistic and fair to the players.

Since the California Lottery realigned the cash value offering so quickly, we believe that Saturday's minimal increase was purely an honest mistake, and not an attempt to withhold monies from the players.

We applaud California's quick action in adjusting the jackpot levels.

Note, however, that we continue to believe that anyone who wins the Super Lotto Plus Lottery of $9.0 million should seriously consider opting for the Annuity payout, since it would be difficult to achieve a guaranteed 4.63% tax deferred annual return on the $5.4M cash offered. But, that's our personal choice.


JL........

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Connecticut Sells Winning $25M Powerball Ticket on Saturday 06/27/09

The winning Powerball numbers for Saturday Jun 27, 2009 were:

18 22 26 39 48 Powerball 17 and Powerplay 4x.

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 412 combinations. Of these, we had 12 winners: (7) pb, (4) pb+1w, and (1) 3w, returning $44 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 1,707,019 combinations. The first winning other combos were located at:

• 3-w@ # 276 - LPP Winner
  
• 3-w + PB @ # 10,857
• 4-w @ # 9,730
• 5-w @ # -na-
  

There was one PB winner from Connecticut so the jackpot resets to $20 million with a cash option of $10.0M and a yield of 4.49%

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Friday Mega Millions Results 06/26/09 - Jackpot $94M

The winning Mega Millions numbers for Friday Jun 26, 2009 were:

11 15 17 29 46 Megaball 16

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 263 combinations. Of these, we had 7 winners: (6) mb, and (1) 3w, returning $19 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 2,216,760 combinations. The first other winning combos were located at:

• 3-w@ # 218 - LPP Winner
  
• 3-w + MB @ # 9,873
• 4-w + MB @ # 3,894
  
• 5-w @ # 918,079
  

There were no MM jackpot winners, so the jackpot grows to $94 million with a cash option of $59.1M and a yield of 4.17%

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Is California Digging into Lottery Coffers?

Since nobody won Super Lotto Plus on Wednesday, the advertised annuity jackpot for Saturday 06/27 was increased to $8.0 million from $7.0 million.

However, after a bit of delay, the estimated Cash Payment posted on Thursday was $4.2 million, up only $0.1 million from the previous drawing.

Based on an $8.0M jackpot with a $4.2M cash value, we calculate that the implied yield of Saturday's drawing is 6.075%.

By comparison, the previous drawing's yield was 4.878% while the yield of the 10-year Treasury Note on Thursday was less than 3.60%.

Had the yield remained constant from Wednesday to Saturday, we estimate that the cash value for Saturday should be $4.7 million.

The difference between our estimated cash value of $4.7M and California's stated $4.2M is $500,000 dollars, or 1/2 of a million dollars! That's a lot of money.

Realizing that:

1. The State of California is strapped for cash, and that
2. Most lottery winners automatically opt for the cash value,

we wonder if:

This is simply an honest mistake?

or

Is California trying to add another
half a million dollars
into its revenue by
taking it away from unsuspecting Lottery Winners?

We'd love to know what you think.

JL........

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Wednesday Powerball Results 06/24/09 - Jackpot $25M

The winning Powerball numbers for Wednesday Jun 24, 2009 were:

16 18 24 51 53 Powerball 16 and Powerplay 5x.

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 530 combinations. Of these, we had 17 winners: (10) pb, (4) pb+1w, and (3) 3w, returning $67 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 2,140,809 combinations. The first winning other combos were located at

• 3-w @ # 70 - LPP Winner
  
• 3-w + PB @ # 1,685
• 4-w @ # 57,764
• 5-w @ # - na -
  

There were no PB jackpot winners, so the jackpot grows to $25 million with a cash option of $12.0M and a yield of 4.80%

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Tuesday Mega Millions Results 06/23/09 - Jackpot $81M

The winning Mega Millions numbers for Tuesday Jun 23, 2009 were:

12 14 16 31 50 Megaball 09

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 412 combinations. Of these, we had 9 winners: (7) mb, and (2) mb+1w, returning $20 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 1,576,520 combinations. The first other winning combos were located at:

• 3-w @ # 1,180
• 3-w + Megaball @ # 59,476
• 4-w @ # -na-
• 5-w @ # -na-
  

There were no MM jackpot winners, so the jackpot grows to $81 million with a cash option of $50.2M and a yield of 4.32%

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North Carolina Sells Winning $88M Powerball Ticket on Saturday 06/20/09

The winning Powerball numbers for Saturday Jun 20, 2009 were:

03 11 18 22 28 Powerball 33 and Powerplay 2x.

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 827 combinations. Of these, we had 24 winners: (10) pb, (10) pb+1w, (1) pb+2w, (2) 3w, and (1) 4w, returning $191 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 2,234,008 combinations. The first winning other combos were located at:

• 3-w@ # 199 - LPP Winner
  
• 3-w + PB @ # 18,943
• 4-w@ # 264 - LPP Winner
• 5-w @ # -na-
  

There was one PB winner from North Carolina so the jackpot resets to $20 million with a cash option of $9.6M and a yield of 4.80%

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Friday Mega Millions Results 06/19/09 - Jackpot $68M

The winning Mega Millions numbers for Friday Jun 19, 2009 were:

04 09 12 16 46 Megaball 44

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 172 combinations. Of these, we had 6 winners: (1) mb, (3) mb+1w, and (2) 3w, returning $25 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 1,457,059 combinations. The first other winning combos were located at:

• 3-w@ # 87 - LPP Winner
  
• 3-w + MB @ # 391
• 4-w + MB @ # 6,772
  
• 5-w @ # 28,172
  

There were no MM jackpot winners, so the jackpot grows to $68 million with a cash option of $41.4M and a yield of 4.50%

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Powerball Results, Wed 06/17/09 - Jackpot Up to $86M

The winning Powerball numbers for Wednesday Jun 17, 2009 were:

05 09 37 42 53 Powerball 27 and Powerplay 5x.

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 359 combinations. Of these, we had 10 winners: (6) pb, (2) pb+1w, (1) pb+2w, and (1) 3w, returning $40 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 2,023,105 combinations. The first winning other combos were located at

• 3-w @ # 128 - LPP Winner
  
• 3-w + PB @ #7,839
• 4-w @ # 26,041
• 5-w @ # - na -
  

There were no PB jackpot winners, so the jackpot grows to $86 million with a cash option of $41.9M and a yield of 4.68%

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Tuesday Mega Millions Results 06/16/09 - Jackpot $57M

The winning Mega Millions numbers for Tuesday Jun 16, 2009 were:

09 15 21 26 45 Megaball 25

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 215 combinations. Of these, we had 5 winners: (4) mb, and (1) mb+1w, returning $11 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 2,173,550 combinations. The first other winning combos were located at:

• 3-w @ # 1,019
• 3-w + Megaball @ # 5,919
• 4-w @ # 22,465
• 5-w @ # -na-
  

There were no MM jackpot winners, so the jackpot grows to $57 million with a cash option of $34.9M and a yield of 4.44%

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Powerball Blocks Mega Millions States from Selling Powerball Tickets

In a 12-18 vote, the 30-state Powerball consortium has rejected the licensing of all Mega Millions states from selling Powerball tickets. Among the states considering offering both lotteries were Washington, New Jersey, and New York in an attempt to generate additional revenues.

The vote occurred in late May and Washington was informed of the decision during a conference call on May 27th.

However, this news was just published today by The Olympian and The News Tribune .

Sat Powerball 06/13/09 Results, Jackpot at $72M

The winning Powerball numbers for Saturday Jun 13, 2009 were:

13 16 20 35 41 Powerball 06 and Powerplay 4x.

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 287 combinations. Of these, we had 7 winners: (6) pb, and (1) pb+1w, returning $22 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 2,049,155 combinations. The first winning other combos were located at:

• 3-w@ # 596
• 3-w + PB @ # 10,869
• 4-w@ # 28,133
  
• 5-w @ # -na-
  

There were no PB winners so the jackpot grows to $72 million with a cash option of $35M and a yield of 4.70%

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Mega Millions Results for Friday 06/12/09

The winning Mega Millions numbers for Friday Jun 12, 2009 were:

06 11 20 32 44 Megaball 38

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 374 combinations. Of these, we had 12 winners: (5) mb, (2) mb+1w, (2) mb+2w, and (3) 3w, returning $57 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 1,382,205 combinations. The first other winning combos were located at:

• 3-w@ # 152- LPP Winner
  
• 3-w + MB @ # 17,299
• 4-w + MB @ # 15,837
  
• 5-w @ # - na -
  

There were no MM jackpot winners, so the jackpot grows to $46 million with a cash option of $27.9M and a yield of 4.54%

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Powerball Results for Wed 06/10/09 - Jackpot Now $59M

The winning Powerball numbers for Wednesday Jun 10, 2009 were:

15 26 27 42 58 Powerball 37 and Powerplay 2x.

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 351 combinations. Of these, we had 12 winners: (4) pb, (5) pb+1w, and (3) 3w, returning $53 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 1,955,650 combinations. The first winning other combos were located at

• 3-w @ # 98 - LPP Winner
  
• 3-w + PB @ #2,589
• 4-w @ # 15,617
• 5-w @ # 48,241
  

There were no PB jackpot winners, so the jackpot grows to $59 million with a cash option of $28.7M and a yield of 4.70%

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Mega Millions Results for Tuesday 06/09/09

The winning Mega Millions numbers for Tuesday Jun 09, 2009 were:

05 17 31 36 56 Megaball 46

In this drawing, Lottery Power Picks recommended 189 combinations. Of these, we had 5 winners: (2) mb, (2) mb+1w, and (1) 3w, returning $17 back to our players. Our 5 number pool had 2,017,724 combinations. The first other winning combos were located at:

• 3-w @ # 98 - LPP Winner
  
• 3-w + Megaball @ # 5,183
• 4-w @ # 7,423
• 5-w @ # 930,137
  

There were no MM jackpot winners, so the jackpot grows to $36 million with a cash option of $21.8M and a yield of 4.56%

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Three More 4th Place LPP Lottery Winners

During the 2 weeks that we were away, 3 of our players won 4th place prizes.

In the Canadian Lotto 649, two winners matched 4 of the 6 white balls,
and, in Mega Millions, one player matched 4 of the 5 white balls.

We congratulate all of our lucky players and hope you continue to play your Free Lottery Power Picks.