MEDIA ADVISORY August 23, 2001 CONTACT: W. Scott Wood, 271-2844 or 276-6969 (home) Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119 WISHFUL THINKING FUELS POWERBALL FEVER, GAMBLING EXPERT SAYS The surge in sales of Powerball tickets is fueled by wishful thinking, advertising and news coverage of the record jackpot as well as a basic lack of understanding of the laws of probability, says a gambling expert from Iowa, where Powerball originated. Powerball has changed over the years as lottery officials made it more difficult to win, thereby rolling over and raising the size of the jackpot, says W. Scott Wood, a psychology professor at Drake University. "These days, it takes big numbers to get this many people involved in chasing a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. A lot of people would like to have $200 million – it's a huge sum of money." Wood teaches a course on the psychology of gambling, and isn't at all surprised by the frenzied purchasing of lottery tickets for the Powerball jackpot. "But people don't understand odds very well," he says. "We know from research that people overestimate the chances of random good things happening and underestimate the probability of bad things happening. This leads them to buy Powerball tickets even when they can tell you that the odds of winning are 1-in-80 million." That means the chance of winning the Powerball jackpot with one ticket is about as remote as having your name drawn out of a huge hat containing yours and all the names of all the residents of the four most populous states in America – California, Texas, Florida and New York – about 80 million people. "Obviously, the likelihood of your name being pulled out isn't very good," Wood added, "but it's fun to think you have a shot at winning $200 million. At least it is a real jackpot and somebody is going to win it. I think people derive a certain amount of pleasure from imagining what they would do with all that money." Wood contends people should view legalized gambling as entertainment, not an economic investment. "There will be huge audience watching Saturday’s televised drawing," he said. "If you look at it as entertainment, then spending $2 or $3 for a night's worth of dreaming about winning $200 million isn't a bad deal."