To 'Ply or not to 'Ply. That is the question.

No, I didn't misspell "play". And no, this has nothing to do with paper towels. But rather, 'Ply is just my faux-hip way of saying multiply. It's an option players have in the two big multi-state game, as well as a select few others. And I'm going to a spell out just how much more (or less) players stand to win (or lose) by doubling thier ticket price and adding these features.

Powerball: Prize Payout 50%
Powerball w/ Powerplay: Prize Payout 49.76%

This is the first jackpot game to ever have a multiplier feature, and among multi-state games, it has the best. There are 4 multiplier numbers, 2, 3, 4, and 5, each having an equal chance of being drawn. And if you win a non-jackpot prize, and you added Power Play, your prize is multiplied by the Power Play number, unless you match the 5 white balls without the Powerball. In that case, the prize is increased to an even $1,000,000, regardless of the Power Play number.

The prize payout, as seen is above, is practically the same with or without Power Play. And, like all multipliers (except for one, which will come up later), the jackpot is not affected by the multiplier. So the idea of whether to add Power Play comes down to one factor, do you care at all about the lower tier prizes? If you do, add the Power Play. You stand a much better chance at winning some multiple-figure amounts, including turning the $200K prize for matching the 5 white balls into a guaranteed million. Plus, $15 for matching the Powerball is way better than just $3. But if you only care about jackpot, still buy the Power Play, you'll thank me later.

Power Play verdict: BUY





Mega Millions: Prize Payout 50%
Mega Millions w/ Megaplier: Prize Payout 47.53%



For years, Megaplier was only available in Texas, but last year during the massive Powerball/Mega Millions love-in, many of the new Mega members began offering Megaplier, though of the pre-2009 Mega members, only Texas and Illinois offer Megaplier.

Megaplier isn't quite as good a deal as Power Play because

• there is a more sizable cut in the prize payout (though that's still not too much).
• the smallest prizes are not quite as big as Powerball.
• the overall odds are not quite as good, so you don't have as good as chance as making the extra cost worth something.
• the maximum multiplier is only 4, no 5x here.

To give you an example, if you match the Mega ball alone for $2 and the maximum multiplier of 4 is drawn, you win $8. About half as much as the $15 you could get for matching the Powerball in, well, Powerball. Plus, the prize for matching the 5 white balls is not guaranteed like Powerball. It could be a million, but it could also be just half a million.

But there is one advantage to the Megaplier. The odds are heavily tilted towards the 4x. In fact, the 4x will come up 57% of the time. The minimum 2x, on the other hand, only comes up 9.5% of the time. But despite that, I don't really think this is as good a deal as the Power Play. But if you want to add a little zest to your Mega Millions experience, go for it.

Megaplier verdict: Depends on your priorities.

Hot Lotto: Prize Payout 50%
Hot Lotto w/ Sizzler: Prize Payout 48.71%




Hot Lotto's Sizzler may not seem all that great, and well, it isn't. The biggest reason is because that multiplier is fixed at 3x. That takes away a big element of surprise.

But other than that, and considering the odds of winning, this really isn't that bad a deal. The prizes are already a bit more skewed toward the lower tiers compared to the two big games, and this increases that advantage even further. Plus, the odds of winning something are about 1 in 16, so you have much better chance at making this extra wager worth it. Of course, adding the Sizzler will not create any life changing amounts of money, as the most you can win outside the jackpot is $30,000. But hey, that's still an improvement over $10K. I say go for it.

Sizzler verdict: BUY

Florida Lotto: Prize Payout 50%
Florida Lotto w/ Xtra: Prize Payout (at the moment) 60%




When the Florida Lottery replaced their awful Lotto Plus feature with Xtra, it was like replacing a Yugo with a Mercedes-Benz. Not only can you multiply your prize lower-tier Lotto prize (same multiplier scheme in Power Play, equal chance of 2x-5x), but on top of that, you can get a free ticket for matching 2 numbers, something you can only get with Xtra. And to make it even better, with Xtra the prize for matching 3 is guaranteed to be multiplied by 5, which means at least $25. It's techinically a limited time offer, but they have extended it indefinately. Hopefully they make it permanent, because it jumps the prize return to 60%. But even if they had the match 3 prize multiplied by the Xtra number, the return would still be 54.12% thanks to the Free Ticket prize. So, if you play Florida Lotto, always add Xtra, because it not only betters your winnings, but it betters your chance at winnings.

Xtra verdict: MUST BUY


Palmetto Cash 5: Prize Payout 45.91%
Palmetto Cash 5 w/ Power-Up: Prize Payout 63.13%


In craps, it's often wise to do something called "taking odds", because it lowers the house advantage to next to nothing. And while the house advantage is still significant in any lottery game, adding Power-Up to South Carolina's Palmetto Cash 5 is probably the closest lottery equivalent to taking odds in craps. It increases your expected prize return by 27%! The reason for this is because this is the only game (other than monitor keno) where the multiplier multiplies every prize including the jackpot. Considering this, the multiplier is heavily skewed towards the minimum factor of 2x, that comes up about half the time. However, the multiplier can go up to 5x, though the odds of that coming up are 1 in 16. In any case, with the big increase in expected return, and the fact that you can increase the jackpot, this is a no-brainer.

Power-Up verdict: MUST BUY

So, yeah. I like most multipliers, that add a little extra excitement and they can, sometimes greatly, increase your potential winnings. But remember, they cost double, so be careful.