The drawings twice a week every Wednesday and Saturday nights 11:00pm.
Powerball is an American lottery game offered by 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association(MUSL), a nonprofit organization formed by an agreement with U.S. lotteries. Powerball's minimum advertised jackpot is $40 million (annuity); Powerball's annuity is paid in 30 graduated installments; winners may choose cash instead.
Drawings are held Wednesday and Saturday evenings at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Since October 7, 2015, the game has used a 5/69 (white balls) + 1/26 (Powerballs) matrix from which winning numbers are chosen, resulting in odds of 1 in 292,201,338 of winning a jackpot per play. Each play costs $2, or $3 with the Power Play option. (Originally, Powerball plays cost $1; when PowerPlay began, such games were $2.) The official cutoff for ticket sales is 10 p.m. Eastern Time; some lotteries cut off sales earlier.The drawings are usually held at the Florida Lottery’s studio in Tallahassee.
On January 13, 2016, Powerball produced the largest lottery jackpot in history; the $1.586 billion jackpot was split by three tickets: in Chino Hills, California,in Munford, Tennessee, and in Melbourne Beach, Florida.
How to Play
Beginning in October, 2015, Powerball® became an even larger combined large jackpot game and cash game. Every Wednesday and Saturday night at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time, we draw five white balls out of a drum with 69 balls and one red ball out of a drum with 26 red balls. This change means bigger jackpots. It also means that your odds of winning some prize are improved. 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 counting the first immediate payment) or a cash lump sum payment. If you choose the cash, then you get the cash, pay the tax, and can invest what is left over. If you choose the annuity, then we can invest the cash amount pre-tax, less an immediate first payment (more to invest means more earnings). With the annuity, you get an annual payment that is increased by 5% each year to keep up with the cost of living. The second prize - won by matching five white balls in any order - is $1,000,000 paid in cash (no annuity option). You win by matching at least three white ball numbers. Any time you match the red Powerball, you win a prize. The overall odds of winning a prize in the game are approximately 1 in 25. Players win a prize by matching one of the 9 Ways to Win. Each ticket costs $2. Draw sales cut off at least 59 minutes before the draw, but a state may cut off sales earlier. Check with your state lottery for your cut-off time. Power Play® is a special add-on feature that allows a winner to increase the original prize amounts (except the jackpopt). The Power Play option costs $1 and must be selected when you buy your Powerball ticket. Powerball players with the Power Play option winning any prize other than the jackpot will win a larger cash prize. The Match 5+0 prize with Power Play option grows to $2,000,000 paid in a cash lump sum (no annuity option is offered). All other lower prizes (below Match 5) will be multiplied by a number that we draw (2X, 3X, 4X, or 5X). In October 2015, a 10X multiplier was added to the mix with a chance to be drawn for all jackopts at $150 million or less. As with any lottery prize, if an extremely popular number is drawn and there is not enough money in the prize pools or reserves to cover it, we may need to reduce the prize.
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