US Powerball
US Powerball is renowned for its huge jackpots and once gave away a prize worth $2.04 billion - the biggest to have ever been seen anywhere in the world. The draw takes place in Florida every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evening, but Powerball’s appeal is international and you can now enjoy the game from other countries. Find out how to play Powerball and win prizes.
How to Play Powerball
While you can only buy tickets from authorised retailers in 48 US jurisdictions, you can also take part in Powerball online from other locations. Sign up to an online betting service such as Jackpot.com and place a bet on which numbers will be drawn. To take part, follow the instructions below:
- Select five numbers from 1 to 69 and one Powerball number from 1 to 26
- Choose to enter just the next draw or multiple draws in a row
- Purchase your entries and wait for the draw
Powerball Prizes
To win the Powerball jackpot, all of the numbers you have selected must match the winning numbers. If there are no winners in a draw, the top prize rolls over to the following game. It increases quickly from draw to draw and has climbed higher than $500 million several times in the past.
If you fail to match the full winning line, you can still pick up prizes for matching fewer numbers. There are nine categories altogether - the following table shows the value of prizes in each one and the odds of winning.
| Prize Category | Odds of Winning | Prize Value |
|---|---|---|
| Match 5 + Powerball | 1 in 292,201,338 | Jackpot |
| Match 5 | 1 in 11,688,053 | $1 million |
| Match 4 + Powerball | 1 in 913,129 | $50,000 |
| Match 4 | 1 in 36,525 | $100 |
| Match 3 + Powerball | 1 in 14,494 | $100 |
| Match 3 | 1 in 579 | $7 |
| Match 2 + Powerball | 1 in 701 | $7 |
| Match 1 + Powerball | 1 in 91 | $4 |
| Match Powerball | 1 in 38 | $4 |
| The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24 | ||
The jackpot can be claimed as a lump sum or as an annuity over 29 years. With the annuity option, you receive 30 annual payments which gradually increase over time until you have eventually received the full advertised amount. The lump sum is a lower value as it represents the cash value of the jackpot at the time you win.
Power Play
The Power Play feature gives you the chance to win much bigger prizes in the lower categories. The jackpot payout can’t be increased if you match all of the numbers, but win any other amount and it will be boosted.
A multiplier is selected at random alongside the main draw to determine how much your prize will be increased. The exception is the ‘Match 5’ category – if you win in the second tier your prize will be doubled to $2 million regardless of which Power Play number is selected.
All other non-jackpot prizes will be increased by a multiple of 2, 3, 4 or 5 times if you have added the Power Play and win. The following table shows the odds of each Power Play multiplier coming into effect:
| Power Play Multiplier | Odds of Being Drawn |
|---|---|
| 2x | 1 in 1.75 |
| 3x | 1 in 3.23 |
| 4x | 1 in 14 |
| 5x | 1 in 21 |
When the advertised jackpot is less than $150 million, a 10x multiplier can come into effect. Here are the odds of each one being selected when the 10x multiplier is in the draw.
| Power Play Multiplier | Odds of Being Drawn |
|---|---|
| 2x | 1 in 1.79 |
| 3x | 1 in 3.31 |
| 4x | 1 in 14.33 |
| 5x | 1 in 21.5 |
| 10x | 1 in 43 |
Powerball Winners
Powerball holds the world record for the biggest lottery jackpot. On Monday 7th November 2022, one ticket holder from California won a colossal $2,040,100,000. It was the first time in history that any lottery jackpot had been worth more than $2 billion. The winning ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, and the money was eventually claimed by Edwin Castro more than three months later.
The second-largest jackpot, worth $1.76 billion, was won in California on 11th October 2023 and only a single ticket matched all the numbers. The cash value of the grand prize was $774.1 million.
The third-largest jackpot was won in January 2016, when three ticket holders split $1.58 billion. The winners were revealed to be John and Lisa Robinson from Munford in Tennessee, David Kaltschmidt and Maureen Smith from Melbourne Beach in Florida, and Marvin and Mae Acosta from Chino Hills in California.
A single ticket purchased in Portland, Oregon managed to match all winning numbers in the April 6, 2024 draw. The prize on offer that night was $1.32 billion and is currently the largest prize ever won in the Beaver State, as well as the fourth-biggest one overall in the history of Powerball. The grand prize was claimed by a trio of winners, represented by Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, a cancer patient who hopes to use the money to find a good doctor. Saephan shared his half with his 37-year-old wife, Duanpen Saephan, while the other half was taken by their friend Laiza Chao as she paid for the Powerball tickets as well. The lucky winners chose the cash option of $422.3 million.
