Powerball Lottery

The Powerball lottery game is a multi-state lottery that is currently played in 43 jurisdictions in the USA, making it one of the biggest lotteries in America. Players must select 5 numbers from the range 1 to 59, plus 1 Powerball lottery number from the range 1 to 39. There are two Powerball lottery draws each week, and these take place every Wednesday and Saturday.

Play the Powerball Lottery Online

To win the Powerball lottery jackpot a player must match all five Powerball lottery numbers and the additional Powerball number itself, and the odds of doing this are 1 in 195,249,054. The good news is that these odds often help to generate some truly gigantic Powerball lottery jackpots, and there are plenty of secondary prizes that can be won by players who match fewer numbers, as the table below illustrates:

Numbers Matched	Odds of Winning	Prize
5 main numbers + Powerball	1 in 195,249,054	Jackpot
5 main numbers	1 in 5,138,133	$200,000
4 main numbers + Powerball	1 in 723,144	$10,000
4 main numbers	1 in 19,030	$100
3 main numbers + Powerball	1 in 13,644	$100
3 main numbers	1 in 359	$7
2 main numbers + Powerball	1 in 787	$7
1 main number + Powerball	1 in 123	$4
Powerball only	1 in 61	$3

The overall odds of winning any prize when playing the Powerball lottery are just about 1 in 35.

Powerball Lottery jackpots

Powerball lottery players can also take advantage of a Power Play feature which allows them to multiply any non-jackpot Powerball lottery prize that they win by 2, 3, 4 or 5 times (the number is generated at random during the draw). The Power Play option increases the cost of the overall entry, but the benefit is that the player has the chance of winning bigger prizes. It should be noted that any Powerball lottery player who exercises the Power Play option and matches five main numbers (but not the Powerball number itself) will win $1,000,000 instead of $200,000.

As stated earlier, the slim odds of winning a Powerball lottery jackpot outright have helped to generate some incredible jackpots in the past. The biggest ever Powerball lottery jackpot was worth $365 million, and that was won by an eight-member lottery syndicate in Nebraska on Saturday 18 February, 2006.

Powerball and other Lotteries

American States used to offer either the Powerball Lottery or the Megamillions lottery to their customers, but since the start of 2010, many states have been able to offer both lottery games. New Jersey became the first state to sell a jackpot winning ticket for both Powerball and Megamillions. Outside the USA, Italy's Superenalotto is becoming known for massive jackpots akin to those found in Euromillions.