How Does US Powerball Work?
The Basics
In US Powerball, you pick:
- five numbers (i.e. the white balls) from a selection pool consisting of 1-69, and
- one number (i.e. the red ball) from a selection pool of 1-25
Take note that the red ball can be the same number as one of the white balls. You can pick numbers manually or via a Quick Pick option – which means you let a system randomly pick the numbers for you.
Winning numbers are drawn at 10:59pm every Wednesday and Saturday at Universal Studios in Florida.
Two drums, one containing the white balls, and the other containing the red balls, are used to randomly select the winning numbers. Matching all 6 numbers awards you the jackpot, while matching 5 gives you the 2nd place prize category, and so on.
Each ticket line costs $1, but some online lottery sites may charge higher to cover for the service of purchasing, scanning and safekeeping tickets.
The Power Play
You can also include a Power Play number in your entry.
For an additional $1 on top of the $1 per line (again, prices may vary on lottery sites), the Power Play number multiplies prizes for non-jackpot winnings by up to 5 or 10 times. The second prize with the Power Play multiplier activated, for instance, is automatically doubled to $2,000,000.
Check out the table below to see how Power Play affects each prize category.
|
Matches |
Prize |
Prize with Powerball Multiplier |
||||
| 2x | 3x | 4x | 5x | 10x | ||
| 5 + 1 | Grand Prize | No Multiplier – Jackpot Only | ||||
| 5 + 0 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
| 4 + 1 | $50,000 | $100,000 | $150,000 | $200,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 |
| 4 | $100 | $200 | $300 | $400 | $500 | $1,000 |
| 3 + 1 | $100 | $200 | $300 | $400 | $500 | $1,000 |
| 3 | $7 | $14 | $21 | $28 | $35 | $70 |
| 2 + 1 | $7 | $14 | $21 | $28 | $35 | $70 |
| 1 + 1 | $4 | $8 | $12 | $16 | $20 | $40 |
| 0 + 1 | $4 | $8 | $12 | $16 | $20 | $40 |
The Odds of Winning
Winning the Powerball isn’t easy, especially when it comes to the jackpot.
Check out the table below for a quick reference.
| Numbers Matched | Odds of Winning |
| 5 +1 | 1 in 292,201,338.00 |
| 5 | 1 in 11,688,053.52 |
| 4 + 1 | 1 in 913,129.18 |
| 4 | 1 in 36,525.17 |
| 3 + 1 | 1 in 14,494.11 |
| 3 | 1 in 579.76 |
| 2 + 1 | 1 in 701.33 |
| 1 + 1 | 1 in 91.98 |
| 0 + 1 | 1 in 38.32 |
What Happens if You Win?
Powerball jackpots are split between anyone who has a winning lottery ticket, while all other prizes are of a fixed amount. That said, non-jackpot prizes could be reduced if the number of winners exceed the lottery operator’s prize fund.
Winners have the option to choose whether to collect their payment as an annuity paid over a 29-year period, or as a lump sum.
Winners have a year to claim their prize. Otherwise, the money often goes to the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, which funnels the money to charity. This won’t always be the case, though, as each MUSL member has different rules that dictate what happens to unclaimed prizes.
SA PowerBall Plus Hot & Cold Numbers
You probably noticed that some numbers just seem to appear in every other draw! These frequently drawn numbers are known as hot numbers and they are used by many experienced lottery players due to their likelihood to be drawn.
Check out the list of the most, and the least, frequently drawn numbers in PowerBall Plus!
Hot Numbers
Hot numbers which are drawn the most times in the past 200 PowerBall Plus draws:
45
18
4
22
49
27
13
32
28
27
27
27
26
26
Cold Numbers
Cold numbers which are drawn the least times in the past 200 PowerBall Plus draws:
47
35
26
39
42
23
38
11
12
13
13
13
13
14
Full Report of Hot & Cold Numbers
