PowerBall
Caught exception: No suitable servers found (`serverSelectionTryOnce` set): [Failed to resolve 'ds013664.mlab.com']There is little doubt that when it comes to lotteries, that the US Powerball is one of the most well-known in the world. A big reason for it being so well known even outside of America is a certain world-record lottery payout of all time that was won from this lottery back in January 2016.
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A whopping $1.56 billion dollars was shared between three lucky ticket holders after the lottery had rolled over a number of times since the previous November. There have been examples of many more big winners since this lottery launched but that is the largest lottery jackpot of all time.
In fact, the PowerBall Lottery guarantees a minimum jackpot of $40 million for each and every draw they make. That number is very rarely seen, however, as standard jackpots are nearly always above this number – especially if the jackpot has rolled over from previous draws.
The best part is, that even if you are not based in America, you can still take part in the PowerBall Lottery and have a chance at winning huge sums of money that will no doubt change your lives.
Carry on reading to see why you should consider taking part in the PowerBall lottery as we take you through the history, odds, what you can win and the many previous big winners that it has produced.
Some History of the PowerBall Lottery
The US Powerball is owned and run by the Multi-State Lottery Association. The MUSL works in conjunction with the 44 state lottery members and also the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands which also participating territories.
Although under a different name of Lotto*America, this lottery has actually been around since 1988. It wasn’t until 1992 that both the name of the lottery and the game itself were changed and thus PowerBall was born.
The first ever PowerBall drawing was on the 22nd of April in 1992 and Bert Molan from Indiana was the lucky ticket holder that scooped a jackpot of $5,989,205 that day. Back then that was seen as a very large jackpot but as you now know, that amount is a fraction of what can be won from big lotteries these days.
Since its launch, the PowerBall has undergone a number of changes to its format as originally, players had to choose 5 from 45 numbers rather than the 69 today and there was also no Power Play option to take advantage of.
How to Play the PowerBall Lottery
Playing the PowerBall lottery is very similar to playing most other lotteries in principle. It involves players choosing a certain amount of numbers in the hope that these numbers will be matched when they are drawn from the tombolas.
On the PowerBall Lottery, players actually have to choose five numbers that will be drawn from a tombola containing white balls with numbers on them. Players have a choice of selecting these five main numbers from between 1 and 69.
Additionally, players also have to select one PowerBall number which can be any number between 1 and 26.
Each ticket that a player purchases will cost $2 initially but they can also pay an additional $1 on top to multiply the non-winning payouts at least 2x and as high as 10x on some occasions. This is the PowerPlay feature that can multiply the non-winning payouts by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x and if the jackpot prize is below $150 million, even 10x.
This multiplier is determined using a wheel during the draw and has a number of sections upon it with the different multipliers that can be attached.
The total amount of sections on the wheel are as follows:
- There are 24 sections that include a 2x multiplier.
- There are 13 sections that include a 3x multiplier
- There are 3 sections that include a 4x multiplier
- There are 2 sections that include a 5x multiplier
- There is 1 section that includes a 10x multiplier (should the jackpot prize be below $150 million)
The prize amounts for matching certain balls and what the multipliers will do for those prizes will be described in the next section of this review.
Once a player has bought a ticket and has decided on whether or not to go for the PowerPlay option on top, they then have to wait for that particular draw to reveal the numbers and whether they have won anything. These draws for the PowerBall lottery happen twice a week, so there are two different opportunities for players to win although each draw will require its own ticket(s).
These draws take place every Saturday and Wednesday at 22.59 EST.
How Much Can be Won?
As we mentioned in the introduction to this review, the amount that can be won is limitless with the potential of the jackpot growing to as much or even more of the record $1.5 billion that was shared between three lucky winners.
PowerBall offers a guaranteed minimum jackpot of $40 million for each draw but this is usually much higher than this amount and when the draws roll over with no winner (s), that jackpot amount also rolls over to the next draw to be placed on the new jackpot.
As the jackpot carries on rolling over, this usually results in more sales of tickets and thus the jackpot prize can escalate very quickly upon each rollover.
As for the non-jackpot prizes, these are fixed amounts no matter the size of the jackpot. However, as mentioned previously, these can be multiplied by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x and sometimes 10x if a player has paid $1 extra and used the PowerPlay feature on the PowerBall.
That 10x multiplier will only be available if a lottery jackpot is valued at less than $150 million.
These are the winnings that can be had in the PowerBall Lottery:
- Matching just the PowerBall number will give you $4 (can be multiplied)
- Matching one number plus the PowerBall number will give you $4 (can be multiplied)
- Matching two numbers plus the PowerBall number will give you $7 (can be multiplied)
- Matching three numbers will give you $7 (can be multiplied)
- Matching three numbers plus the PowerBall number will give you $100 (can be multiplied)
- Matching four numbers will give you $100 (can be multiplied)
- Matching four numbers plus the PowerBall will give you $50,000 (can be multiplied)
- Matching five numbers will give you $1 million (can only be multiplied by two)*
- Matching five numbers plus the PowerBall will give you the jackpot (cannot be multiplied
*The $1 million second-tier prize can only be multiplied by two if a player used the PowerPlay feature. This is even the case if a higher multiplier was determined from the PowerPlay wheel.
If there are multiple jackpot winners, they will be given an equal share of the jackpot.
Previous Notable Jackpots
We have touched on this a few times but the PowerBall Lottery holds the record for the largest ever lottery win of all time. It paid out $1.586 billion which was shared by three separate ticket holders.
Those ticket holders were from California, Florida and Tennessee respectively and each won $528.8 million. This draw was held on the 13th of January in 2016 and the jackpot was allowed to grow having been rolled over since November in 2016.
Along with those jackpot winners were 81 people who won $1 million (or $2 million if they used the PowerBall) each for the second prize on the lottery.
While they were winners of the largest ever combined jackpot, the worlds largest single winner was a ticket holder in Massachusetts who scooped more than $750 million on the 23rd of August in 2017.
There was another huge winner back in 2013 from Florida who scooped $590.5 million while a ticket holder from West Virginia won $319 million back in 2002.
There are many more examples of big winners from the PowerBall Lottery but those above are the biggest of them all to date. Just remember that you will be looking at a minimum of $40 million (or at least a share of it) should you win this lottery jackpot.
What are the Chances of Winning?
Well, the overall odds of winning any kind of prize are very generous at 1 in 24.87. However, that could mean winning anything and will most likely be one of the smaller amounts for most. The odds of the larger prizes are dramatically higher as you will see below:
- Players have a 1 in 292,201,338 chance of winning the jackpot for every ticket that they buy. This requires players to match the 5 main numbers as well as the Power Ball.
- Winning the second tier prize brings odds of 1 in 11,688,053 and requires players to match the 5 main numbers.
- Winning the third-tier prize of the PowerBall has odds of 1 in 913,129 and this will require matching the Power Ball as well as 5 main numbers.
- Odds of winning the fourth tier prize are 1 in 36,525 and this will need players to match four main numbers.
- For the fifth tier prizes, players have odds of 1 in 14,494 at matching 3 of the main numbers and the Power Ball.
- Players will have to match 3 main numbers and have odds of 1 in 579.764 of winning the sixth tier prize.
- In order to win the seventh tier prize, players need to match 2 main numbers and the Power Ball with odds of 1 in 701.328.
- Winning the eighth tier prize requires players to match 1 main ball and the Power Ball at odds of 1 in 91.977.
- As for the ninth tier prizes, these require players to find only the Power Ball and the odds of doing so are 1 in 38.323.
So as you can see, the chances of winning the jackpot are very slim but as the old adage goes – somebody has to win it. And people do win it, so it’s a no-brainer to not give yourselves a chance when each draw comes along.
Who Can Play the PowerBall Lottery?
In the past, it was only residents of the member states of the lottery that could enter and have the chance at winning the PowerBall lottery. This has changed in recent years, however, as now players from all over the world are allowed to enter via online portals.
Lottery tickets can now be bought online so that no matter where you are, you can have a chance at fantastic wealth just like residents from the member states can.
Once you have bought your ticket online, you simply just have to follow the draws on the internet to see if you have become the next big winner of the PowerBall Lottery.
As long as you are above the minimum age to gamble in the chosen member state that you are purchasing your ticket, you can play the PowerBall lottery. This can range from 18, 19 and 21 depending on the state, so make sure you check before purchasing a ticket.
How is the Jackpot Paid?
In almost as tricky a situation as deciding which numbers to choose, players will also have to consider how they would like to be paid.
Players can either opt to have their winnings paid to them in two 50% cash lump sums (one from the winning jurisdiction and the second an equal share from each of the remaining jurisdictions) or have annual payments spread over 30 years.
The conundrum here is that players opting for the cash upfront option would probably receive half the total amount they would get had they gone for the 30 annual annuity payments.
There have been many instances of winners choosing either payment option with younger winners generally opting for the 30 annual payments while older players understandably go for the lump sum.
Even though it is a big decision to make – it is definitely a good decision to have presented in front of you.
