A $90 million Powerball jackpot sounds more spectacular than a €17 million Lotto 6aus49 jackpot — but which ticket is mathematically actually worth more? The EV Comparison Calculator answers exactly that question: it calculates the expected value (EV) of every single ticket live, across all 23 lottery systems, and ranks them by where a stake mathematically pays off the most right now.
📊 What is expected value, exactly?
🧮 The formula behind it
A system's value score comes from jackpot ÷ odds — in other words: how much is the jackpot mathematically "worth" per ticket, factoring in the probability of winning it? Subtracting the ticket price from that gives the net expected value — whether a ticket is on average "worth" more or less than it costs.
🌍 Live data, automatically converted
Jackpots from different countries are stated in different currencies (USD for Powerball, GBP for UK Lotto, PLN for Lotto Polska …). The calculator automatically converts all jackpots and ticket prices to euros, making a fair comparison across all 23 systems possible in the first place.
📋 The ranking at a glance
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Rank | Position in the comparison — rank 1 currently has the highest value score |
| Jackpot (EUR) | Current jackpot, converted to euros |
| Odds | Probability of the jackpot prize (1 in X), calculated mathematically from the system size |
| Value score | Jackpot divided by odds — the pure "jackpot attractiveness" |
| Net EV | Value score minus ticket price — the actual mathematical advantage or disadvantage |
⏱️ Why the data updates on a throttled schedule
Jackpot data comes from an external API with a limited request quota. It's therefore not re-fetched on every page load, but instead updated automatically whenever a system gets a new draw anyway — supplemented by values maintained manually by admins if the live source is briefly unavailable for a system.
✅ Accessible to everyone
Unlike many other analysis tools at LottoAnalyzer, the EV Comparison Calculator is free to use for all registered users.
💰 Find the best value now
Live comparison of the expected value of all 23 lottery systems
Go to the EV Comparison Calculator📋 Summary: EV Comparison Calculator in 4 points
- Objective comparison instead of gut feeling when choosing a lottery system
- All values converted to euros — fairly comparable across countries
- Net expected value also accounts for the ticket price, not just the jackpot
- Completely free for all registered users