In short, the GA Lottery Powerball started in 1996, discontinued the same year, then restarted back in 2010. Although, the Powerball game itself has been around since 1992, Georgia didn't adopt the Powerball game until 1996. In fact, that year the Georgia Lottery Corporation became the 20th State member of the Multi State Lottery Association, which is the Powerball administrative body. As a result, the Georgia Lottery Corporation began selling Powerball tickets on July 1^st 1996.

Later on in 1996, the Georgia Lottery Corporation joined 'The Big Game' and began selling the game at the same time they were selling the Powerball game. This was against the Multi-State Lottery Association's rules because at the time, the Multi-State Lottery Association did not allow participating lotteries to sell both the Mega Millions and Powerball games simultaneously. This was a fatal mistake that would kick the Georgia Lottery Corporation out of the Multi-State Lottery Association and prohibit the sale of the Powerball game in Georgia for 14 years.

After state lotteries reached an agreement with the Multi-State lottery Association to allow the Powerball game and the Mega Millions game to be sold simultaneously, the Georgia Lottery Corporation rejoined the Multi-State Lottery Association again on January 31, 2010 and the GA Lottery Powerball has been active ever since.

Overall, the GA Lottery Powerball has only produced three jackpot winners since the game restarted in 2010. These jackpots add up to a total amount of more than $218 million, but when compared to the other Powerball state lottery participants' numbers of jackpots won and total amounts of winnings, the GA Lottery Powerball ranks very low. For instance, the top two Powerball state lottery participants are Missouri and Indiana respectively with 16 and 19 jackpots and winnings totaling over $3.41 billion. The large comparison gap is directly related to the 14 years that the GA Lottery Powerball did not operate in Georgia.

Despite the grand canyon of comparability with other Powerball participating states, the GA Lottery Powerball has contributed to the State of Georgia in other ways. For instance, Powerball sales are a huge part of Georgia's $1 billion in annual lottery sales revenue. By Georgia law, 50% goes back out in winnings while one-third is used to help Georgia's students attain post-secondary education from a Georgia college, university, or technical school. Funds from the GA Lottery Powerball contribute to the Zell Miller Scholarship, the HOPE Scholarship, and the HOPE Grant.

In closing, the GA Lottery Powerball was almost non-existent. However, despite the fairly short time the GA Lottery Powerball has been existent, there has been significant impact to the state of Georgia, the forty-four first and second place Powerball winners who have won more than $200 million, and the college students who have substantial support in their educational quest. In retrospect, one would have to ask the question: What would be the story if Georgia would have never sold 'The Big Game' at the same time while selling the Powerball game? Share your thoughts on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.