How much is too much for a lottery winner to take home?
With lottery progressive games, in which the jackpot increases each draw if nobody wins it, is one of the major attractions to playing the lottery. People love to see the jackpot rise and rise, and the higher the jackpot goes, the more tickets that seem to get sold. Recorded jackpots in the Powerball lottery have reach over one billion dollars. A billion dollars is a lot to win for any one person. But should billion dollar lotteries exist or should the jackpots be capped at a certain amount?
The Arguments for and Against Jackpot Caps
There are very strong views on either side of the issue. Those who feel that lottery jackpots should be capped are of the impression that capping jackpots means more money can be used for other prizes and therefore more people will win more prizes. For instance, some people feel that capping the jackpot allows players to feel like they are able to dream about winning a large prize, but it is not too much money as they wouldn't know how to manage it. Therefore more players can win large prizes like a million dollars that can be added as lower prizes from the overflow from the capped jackpot ticket sales. Anything over $50 to $60 million for one person to win is ridiculous and the population can’t sustain a limitless lottery. Since only one set of numbers is drawn, there are fewer winners. Jackpot wins over the cap are simply more money a player can stick in the bank and never touch. It’s a waste of money and a waste of a lottery game.
On the other side of the opinions, players themselves love higher and higher jackpots. It fuels the frenzy and anticipation of winning such a large amount that ticket sales increase, bringing in more money to the operator, the retailers, the state or province, the charities, and the higher the jackpot gets, the more tickets that get sold. Although there would be fewer winners per draw, a person could potentially become a billionaire, and that is a very attractive status to achieve however it is done.
Even with fewer winners, it really would not discourage players from buying tickets for the huge lottery jackpot draw. Players imagine themselves with hundreds of millions of dollars that can last them a lifetime and let them buy or do anything they want. A paltry $50 million dollars is ok, it’ll do, but players dream big and only huge jackpots can fulfill those dreams.
Looking at both sides, it seems odd that someone can win $50 million and know how to manage it. Winning $1 million or $1 billion is more money than most winners have ever had so they really don’t have any idea how to manage it anyway. Whatever large jackpot is won, the player is going to need financial advise from the bank or a firm. Uncapped jackpots increase sales revenue, which in turn increases ticket sales, which in turn increase the jackpot amount. This is a positive financial circle in which all stakeholders benefit from.
However, shouldn’t the majority of players have a chance to win a million dollars or more? The more winners of larger jackpots is also an incentive for ticket sales. Capping the huge jackpot means overflow money from ticket sales can fund quite a few larger jackpots. And anyone who wins the capped jackpot is not put into a situation of having too much money to know what to do with or to manage it properly so it doesn’t end up all spent on useless and frivolous things like parties and nights out on the town.
So really, who knows what the right answer is? There are capped jackpots and uncapped jackpots out there in all gaming jurisdictions. It’s an issue that is nowhere near a resolution, and if any does come it will be far in the future. Whatever side you are on is irrelevant. Play as you will, how your heart tells you to. Simply know that playing the lottery is entertainment and if you win big, be financially responsible with your millions, hundreds of millions, or billions that luck has bestowed upon you.