Yes, I agree in part, Powerball's new pricing of $2.00 per play ($3.00 if power up is used) is greedy on the part of the MUSL.
As only around 35% of the ticket sale price is used to payout the prize amounts, around 65% is kept by the States immediately, now the States receive around $1.30 per ticket price(and if the same is applied for the powerup it would result in $1.95 that the State receives for each ticket sold).
Of course when they start the Powerball with a higher jackpot amount, it requires a creative means for the States to fund the estimated jackpot prize payout amounts.
As we are all well aware, that when it comes to money, the legislatures are hardly willing to shell out those additional amounts from their State general funds.
As I must add, most lottery players probably don't know that some of the amounts generated aren't used for the purposes their State lottery was created to fund, but put into the States general fund, where it may be allocated anywhere the General assembly choose to allocate those funds to, include State employee bonuses.
For example, while a States law may provide that revenues generated "directly" from lottery game ticket sales, is to be used for the purpose(s) in which their lottery was created for, taxation on lottery prizes you may be surprised to find out isn't being used for those purposes, but are used in a State's yearly budget.
I have always disliked the low payout amounts for the lower prize tiers.
It takes out the fair play of the game to have a Powerball payout to be the same as having one white ball, and a powerball, just as having the powerball and a white ball pay out for the same as two white balls and a powerball.
The matrix of the payout scale is manipulated.
If one were to follow the logic, it would follow the same rules throughout the entire prize tier level, but it doesn't.
If you take a look at the past winning tiers, you'd find that to be true, the odds show that it's much harder to get a winning combo without the red powerball, than to get one with the powerball number.
Yet the lower prize tiers subsidize the prize payouts for the second prize tier.
I also feel that a direct tax on winnings of lottery prizes is unfair, on the one hand the States say that the lottery is not a tax (since it's generated as contributions of individual players, and not forced as a direct payment), yet larger winnings are treated as income, since it resulted in a gain, although some States do not charge State taxes on winnings, the Federal tax rate of 25% is always applied.
I'm not sure if the powerball game will be able to sustain itself under the new change, but I do find it a bit alarming, that historically lotteries had always in the long run costed the sponsor's more than the amounts being generated, that is up until Mega Millions, and Powerball started.
Now with saying all of that, do I play? yes I do.
Why do I play? for the same purpose and reasoning other players play, for the chance to win way more than I could ever possibly have put into it.
Of course if I had to choose between bills and the lottery, bills come first, food or lottery then food.