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Dreaming of lottery riches? Virus could cut jackpots

Iowa's Powerball jackpot could grow more slowly, with minimum increases of $2 million instead of the normal $10 million.
Credit: AP
FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2018 file photo, a Powerball lottery sign displays the lottery prizes at a convenience store in Chicago. Lottery jackpots are going to shrink as the coronavirus pandemic tamps down lottery sales. The group that oversees the Powerball game announced Wednesday, March 25, 2020, that it would cut minimum jackpots in half, from $40 million to $20 million, after there is a winner of the current big prize. The jackpot also could grow more slowly, with minimum increases of $2 million instead of the normal $10 million after each twice-weekly drawing. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh File)

DES MOINES, Iowa — Lottery jackpots are going to shrink as the coronavirus pandemic tamps down lottery sales. 

The group that oversees the Powerball game announced Wednesday night that it would cut minimum jackpots in half, from $40 million to $20 million, after there is a winner of the current big prize. The jackpot also could grow more slowly, with minimum increases of $2 million instead of the normal $10 million after each twice-weekly drawing.

Credit: AP
FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2018 file photo, Powerball lottery tickets are printed out of a lottery machine at a convenience store, in Chicago. Lottery jackpots are going to shrink as the coronavirus pandemic tamps down lottery sales. The group that oversees the Powerball game announced Wednesday, March 25, 2020, that it would cut minimum jackpots in half, from $40 million to $20 million, after there is a winner of the current big prize. The jackpot also could grow more slowly, with minimum increases of $2 million instead of the normal $10 million after each twice-weekly drawing. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh File)

The other national lottery game in the United States, Mega Millions, is considering a similar move. 

The move by Powerball won't affect the current $160 million jackpot.

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