Iowa Lottery

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 Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 9:59 p.m. Tickets may be purchased until 8:59 p.m. on the evening of the drawing.

The starting jackpot and the rate at which the jackpot increases is based upon sales and interest rates, with no fixed minimums.

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. In August 2021 drawings increased to three times per week when Monday drawings were added. 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 October 2018. Lerynne West of Redfield claimed a $343.9 million Powerball prize. West's ticket split the $687.8 million Powerball jackpot in the Oct. 27 drawing with a ticket purchased in New York.

*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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