US Powerball Lottery Frenzy
Last Updated: Wednesday 7th August 2013, 16:32
US Powerball lottery players are getting very excited. Nobody won the Powerball top prize last Saturday (19 August) and the estimated jackpot for Wednesday's game exceeded $51 million, with the cash option a staggering $23.3 million. Unfortunately, no one won the Wednesday game either, and that means the Powerball draw for this Saturday is attracting frenzied ticket-buyers in droves.
Powerball is played in 29 states as well as in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia. It is a lotto game which has both a jackpot and cash components. Five white balls are drawn from a possible 55, and one red ball is drawn from a possible 42. There are nine ways to win, as follows:
Match five white balls and the red ball.......... Jackpot
Match five white balls............................... $200,000
Match four white balls and the red ball....... $ 10,000
Match four white balls.................................... $ 100
Match three white balls and the red ball.......... $ 100
Match three white balls...................................... $ 7
Match two white balls and the red ball................ $ 7
Match one white ball and the red ball................. $ 4
Match the red ball............................................. $ 3
Jackpot winners get to choose between a lump sum payment or a larger prize paid out in thirty annual instalments. Winners have up to sixty days to choose which option they want to take. All other prizes apart from the jackpot are paid in cash, and the odds of winning any prize are around 1 in 37.
Powerball players can take advantage of a "Power Play" option which allows them to multiply any non-jackpot prize by 2, 3, 4 or 5 times. It is therefore possible to win a cool million by hitting the $200,000 prize and having it multiplied 5 times. It obviously costs more to Power Play, but it's an option that is very popular with Powerball players all over the US.
With ticket-buying for this Saturday's game expected to continue increasing right up to the last possible minute, the US Powerball will be on everyone's lips this weekend. If you know someone in the states, why not ask them to buy a ticket on your behalf and agree to split the proceeds if you happen to get lucky?
