Powerball Details
[Match 5 Bonus Prize | Odds of Winning]
[How To Buy | Power Play | Poll Results]
[Winning Numbers]
Powerball is a US lotto game. Every Wednesday and Saturday night at
10:59 p.m. Eastern Time,
they draw five white balls out of a drum with 55 
(used to be 49 then 53)
balls and
one red ball out of a drum with 42 red balls.
The odds of winning the jackpot by matching all five white balls and
the red
Powerball have worsened to 1 in 146,107,962 (used to be 80,089,128 then
120,526,770). The
overall odds of winning a prize in the game have worsened to 1 in 36.60
(used to be 35 then 36.06).
The jackpot (won by matching all five white balls in any order and
the red
PowerBall) is either an annuitized prize paid out over 29 years
(30 payments; used to be 25) or a lump sum payment.
This misleadingly inflates the stated jackpot. For example, with a cash
jackpot of $125 million, the annuitized jackpot will now be advertised as
$247.25 million instead of $217.5 million. Since the annuity payment is
spread out by an extra five years, your annual payment is lower. You
should
always select the cash option as long as you have a good investment manager.
You no longer have to select the
payment option at the time of purchase. The tax law has changed to give you
up to 60 days until after you claim the prize to decide whether you want
cash or the annuity option. The lump-sum payment would come out to about
half the jackpot. After the jackpot is won, it drops back to
approximately $5.4 million ($10 million annuity).
How To Buy a Ticket
In order to purchase a ticket, you must visit an authorized
retailer in one
of the following jurisdictions: Tennessee, Arizona, Colorado,
Connecticut, Washington
D.C., Delaware, Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico,
Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont,
Virgin
Islands, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Tickets cannot be legaly sold online or
through the mail. The only way to legally sell a PowerBall ticket is
through a retailer (e.g., grocery store, convenience store) that is
licensed by a US state lottery selling the game. Players must be of
legal age to buy a ticket (although some states allow minors to claim a
prize given as a gift). There are no state or U.S. citizenship
requirements.
Powerball Prizes and Odds
| Number of Matches | Prize | New Odds (1:) | Old Odds (1:) | Possibilities | Total Payout | Payout % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 + powerball | Jackpot | 120,526,770.00 | 80,089,128 | 1 | ~$39,374,793 (variable) | ~32.669% |
| 5 | $100,000 | 2,939,677.32 | 1,953,393 | 41 | $4,100,000 | 3.402% |
| 4 + powerball | $5,000 | 502,194.88 | 364,042 | 240 | $1,200,000 | 0.996% |
| 4 | $100 | 12,248.66 | 8,879 | 9,840 | $984,000 | 0.816% |
| 3 + powerball | $100 | 10,685.00 | 8,466 | 11,280 | $1,128,000 | 0.936% |
| 3 | $7 | 260.61 (0.4%) | 207 | 462,480 | $3,237,360 | 2.686% |
| 2 + powerball | $7 | 696.85 (0.1%) | 605 | 172,960 | $1,210,720 | 1.005% |
| 1 + powerball | $4 | 123.88 (0.8%) | 118 | 972,900 | $3,891,600 | 3.229% |
| powerball only | $3 | 70.39 (1.4%) | 74 | 1,712,304 | $5,136,912 | 4.262% |
| Total Winners | $18.03 average | 36.06 (2.8%) | 35 | 3,342,046 | $60,263,385 | 50% |
| 2 | 17.00 (5.9%) | 7,091,360 | ||||
| 1 | 3.02 (33.1%) | 39,888,900 | ||||
| 0 | 1.72 (58.2%) | 70,204,464 | ||||
| Total | 1 (100%) | 120,526,770 | ||||
The odds presented here are based on a $1 play. There are nine
ways to win in Powerball. First check your tickets online
then return to your Powerball retailer or Lottery headquarters for
validation of your tickets. About 12% of the total prizes go unclaimed!
The above table shows that about 33% of
every dollar played goes to the jackpot while 17% goes to pay the other
eight prize levels. The average cash jackpot won is $39,374,793. It would
take $120,526,770 to buy every possible combination. The average payout is
50%. The average prize won is $18.03.
Power Play Prizes and Odds
| Match | Powerball Prize | Multiplier of 2 (Odds 1:5 or 20%) |
Multiplier of 3 (Odds 1:5) |
Multiplier of 4 (Odds 1:5) |
Multiplier of 5 (Odds 1:2.5 or 40%) |
|
Non-winning Powerball ticket (97.2%
chance)
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5 White Balls & PB
|
Jackpot
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
5 White Balls
|
$200,000
|
$400,000
|
$600,000
|
$800,000
|
$1,000,000
|
|
4 White Balls & PB
|
$10,000
|
$20,000
|
$30,000
|
$40,000
|
$50,000
|
|
4 White Balls
|
$100
|
$200
|
$300
|
$400
|
$500
|
|
3 White Balls & PB
|
$100
|
$200
|
$300
|
$400
|
$500
|
|
3 White Balls
|
$7
|
$14
|
$21
|
$28
|
$35
|
|
2 White Balls & PB
|
$7
|
$14
|
$21
|
$28
|
$35
|
|
1 White Ball & PB
|
$4
|
$8
|
$12
|
$16
|
$20
|
|
0 White Balls & PB
|
$3
|
$6
|
$9
|
$12
|
$15
|
While the average payout for Powerball is 50%, it is only
48.5% for Power Play. If you do want to spend an extra $1, you are probably
better off spending it on an extra Powerball ticket instead of Power Play,
especially when the cash jackpot is at least $40 million.
If you do win a 2nd-9th prize, Power Play will increase your winnings
by an average of 14/5 or 2.8 times. Since the payout for the 2nd-9th prizes
is 17.33%, the calculation is:
(14/5 * $20,888,592) / 120,526,770 = 48.527%.
Match 5 Bonus Prize
Whenever the Powerball jackpot reaches a record level, the amount of the
jackpot prize is limited to increases for each draw of no more than $25
million. The prize money collected in excess of the advertised jackpot
amount, plus the maximum $25 million increase, will be placed into the
Match 5 Bonus prize pool and will accumulate until there is a jackpot
winner. When there is a jackpot winner, the Match 5 Bonus prize pool will
be divided equally among all winners of the Match 5 prize. The prize will
be paid in one cash lump sum.
The Match 5 Bonus prize is in addition to any Power Play prizes that may be
won. The Match 5 Bonus prize is not multiplied. A Match 5 winner who also
played the Power Play option will win the original $100,000, the amount
paid under the Power Play multiplier option, and the new Match 5 Bonus
effective bonus prize. Consider the following scenario: A player matches
the five white numbers, another player hits the jackpot by matching all
five white numbers plus the red Powerball, MUSL draws the Power Play number
"4", and there is $385,000 available for each Match 5 winner as an
additional Match 5 Bonus prize for the drawing. This player would then win
$100,000 (the original Match 5 prize) + $300,000 (the extra monies created
from the Power Play) + $385,000 (the actual Match 5 Bonus) for a total of
$785,000. Put another way, the player has his $100,000 prize multiplied by
4, and then he also receives the additional $385,000 Match 5 Bonus prize.
Although it is unlikely, it is possible that no Match 5 winner will exist
for a drawing where the jackpot is won and in where a Match 5 Bonus Prize
pools exists. In this case, the Match 5 Bonus prize pool will be paid out
to the Match 4+1 winners.
Power Play
Since March 4, 2001, Powerball players can multiply their winnings by up to 5 times. With the new Power Play feature, prizes from $3 to $100,000 can be multiplied to 2, 3, 4 or 5 times their value.
* "Power Play" is not a new game,
but an attempt to get more revenue from Powerball players.
How It Works
If players want to spend an extra $1 per Powerball play, they can now
multiply their Powerball prizes by 2,3,4 or 5 times the original prize
amount (for all prizes except the jackpot).
A spinning wheel with 15 slots numbered 2 through 5 (there are three 2's,
three 3's, three 4's, and six 5's) has been added to Powerball's Wednesday
and Saturday drawings to select the Power Play number.
If any of the player's numbers match the winning numbers and the Power Play
was purchased, the set Powerball prize amount (except the jackpot) will be
multiplied by the Power Play number.
Prizes Multiply Up To $500,000.
For example, if you bought the $1 Power Play and matched three numbers and
they draw the Power Play number 5, your original
$7 prize is multiplied by the Power Play number of 5 to $35, so you win an
additional $28. If the player
had matched 5 white ball numbers, the prize would multiply to $500,000.
All Powerball prize levels, except the jackpot and the match 5 bonus
prize, can be multiplied if the Power Play is purchased.
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