About Powerball
The Powerball® game has been enriched with a 10X multiplier, a $50,000 third prize and better overall odds of winning.
How To Play
Powerball costs $2 per play; $3 with the Power Play® option.
Choose 5 out of 69 numbers for the white balls;
then choose 1 out of 26 numbers for the Powerball.
Use a play slip to choose your own numbers or
request an "easy pick" from the clerk and the lotto
terminal will choose the numbers for you. Play more
than one drawing by marking the "multi-draw" box on
the play slip for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 or 10 consecutive
drawings.
Drawings are held Wednesdays and Saturdays at 9:59
p.m. Tickets may be purchased until 8:59 p.m. on the
evening of the drawing.
The jackpot begins at $40 million and grows until
it's won.
Win the jackpot by matching all 5 white ball numbers and the Powerball.
There are nine ways to win, so be sure to check your ticket after each drawing.
Powerball prizes must be claimed within 365 days of the drawing
for which they were eligible.
Power Play Option
Ask for the Power Play with your Powerball purchase! For an extra $1 Power Play
purchase you could increase your prize amount (except the jackpot and match 5 prize) by
2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 times (10X multiplier is used only
when the jackpot is $150 million or less). If you match 5 white ball numbers and have purchased the Power
Play, you have doubled your $1 million prize to $2 million! The prize payout does not
increase if you match 5 and the Powerball; in that case you win the jackpot!
If you have purchased the Power Play option, the winning matches and the
probabilities for matching the numbers drawn stay the same. The following table
shows the amounts paid to prize winners for each possible Power Play number drawn:
Prize Payouts & Odds including Power Play (PP) Option**
| MN |
Prize
(No PP) |
PP=2 |
PP=3 |
PP=4 |
PP=5 |
PP=10*** |
Odds |
| 5 + PB |
Jackpot* |
Jackpot* |
Jackpot* |
Jackpot* |
Jackpot* |
Jackpot* |
1 in 292,201,338.00 |
| 5 |
$1 million |
$2 million |
$2 million |
$2 million |
$2 million |
$2 million |
1 in 11,688,053.52 |
| 4 + PB |
$50,000 |
$100,000 |
$150,000 |
$200,000 |
$250,000 |
$500,000 |
1 in 913,129.18 |
| 4 |
$100 |
$200 |
$300 |
$400 |
$500 |
$1,000 |
1 in 36,525.17 |
| 3 + PB |
$100 |
$200 |
$300 |
$400 |
$500 |
$1,000 |
1 in 14,494.11 |
| 3 |
$7 |
$14 |
$21 |
$28 |
$35 |
$70 |
1 in 579.76 |
| 2 + PB |
$7 |
$14 |
$21 |
$28 |
$35 |
$70 |
1 in 701.33 |
| 1 + PB |
$4 |
$8 |
$12 |
$16 |
$20 |
$40 |
1 in 91.98 |
| 0 + PB |
$4 |
$8 |
$12 |
$16 |
$20 |
$40 |
1 in 38.32 |
Overall Odds: 1 in 24.87. Odds
are based on a single play.
Cash Option vs. Annuity Option
When a player wins the Powerball jackpot, the
winner may choose to receive the prize in annuity
payments or may elect to take a lump-sum payment. A
player has 60 days from the date they claim their
prize to choose the "cash" option or the "annuity"
option. If the player selects the "cash" option, the
prize will be a single cash payment equal to the
amount available to the lottery for the jackpot
prize pool. The "cash" prize is estimated to be
approximately one-half of the estimated jackpot,
depending on current interest rates. If the player
chooses an annuity, it will be paid in 30 payments
over 29 years, and the annual payment will be
increased by a rate as determined by lottery
officials. If the cost to purchase the annuity is
less than $250,000, the lottery may elect to pay the
prize as "cash."
History
Powerball, launched in April 1992, is one of the
world's best-known lotto games. It offers big
jackpots and the chance to win lots of other prizes,
too. The largest jackpot to date was won in January 2016.
That world-record $1.586 billion jackpot was won with tickets
purchased in California, Florida and Tennessee.
The largest Powerball jackpot won in Iowa
so far was in June 2012. The Shipping 20, a group of
coworkers from the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar
Rapids, claimed that $241 million Powerball prize.
* The advertised jackpot is based
on prize payment as an annuity. The jackpot prize will be divided equally among multiple winners
based on the amount available to the lottery for the jackpot prize pool.
**The set prize amounts published here are based on the expected number of
winners sharing in the prize pool. In some cases, these prizes may be paid on a pari-mutuel
basis and will be lower than these prizes levels.
***The 10X multiplier is only used when the jackpot is
$150 million or less.
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