Powerball Arrives With £300 Million Jackpot for Debut UK Draw

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The biggest lottery in the world has landed in the UK, with tickets on sale for the first time. It’s turned out to be a perfect time to join the game too, as the jackpot for Thursday morning’s draw is worth a colossal £300 million!

Biggest Jackpot in UK History

The upcoming jackpot is the largest to have ever been put up for grabs in the UK, dwarfing even the biggest to have been offered on EuroMillions over the past 22 years.

Remarkably, though, it is not even that high by Powerball’s standards. The jackpot is at an estimated $567 million in the U.S., but it has previously gone above $1 billion on several occasions and once even topped $2 billion before it was won. 

If it gets anywhere near that level again, it will provide players in the UK with the first-ever opportunity to become a lottery billionaire. It is likely only a matter of time, as there is no jackpot cap or rollover limit in Powerball.

What is Powerball?

Until now, Powerball has been an American-based draw game, played in 45 states, plus the jurisdictions of Washington D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

The mechanics of the game are straightforward. Draws take place three times a week and you are required to pick five main numbers from 1 to 69, plus a Powerball number between 1 and 26. 

From Tuesday 21st July, you can now fill out playslips at National Lottery retailers, or play online for added security and convenience. It costs £4 per play, but the prizes are astronomical and the odds of winning in the UK are even better than on the U.S. version.

10 Ways To Win

While you have to match all the numbers to win the jackpot, there are also nine other ways to win. Match two main numbers and you’ll win £8. Get the five main numbers without the Powerball and you’ll receive £1 million. All the prizes in between are pari-mutuel, based on how many tickets are sold and how many players win.

The jackpot also works a bit differently to the Lotto or EuroMillions jackpot, for instance. The advertised figure for each draw is the annuity value, to be paid out in graduated instalments over 29 years. This means you won’t get the full amount in one go if you win, but instead you get a guaranteed income for the next three decades. And if the jackpot is hundreds of millions, that still works out as an incredible payout every year!

Draws take place on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings in Florida, which converts to Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings (around 4am) in the UK. That’s very different to other UK games, but it does mean that you can dream of waking up to the news that you’ve become a multimillionaire. For the very biggest draws, you might even want to set an alarm for the moment the winning numbers are drawn. Ticket sales close at 11:55pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Go to the Powerball section to learn even more about the game, and don’t forget to pick up a ticket for the inaugural UK draw.