PowerBall Review

PowerBall Online Lottery

Powerball is an American multi-state lottery that spans 45 jurisdictions; this wide reach is what allows the jackpot to grow to extremely high winnings. Its predecessor, Lotto*America, was started in 1988, but it officially changed to Powerball in April 19, 1992, with the first drawing held three days later.

What first set Powerball apart from the rest was the fact that it made use of two drums from which to draw the numbers, resulting in a variety of prize levels and higher jackpot odds – you can still win something for getting just one number right. This concept proved to be highly successful and favorable, and many other lotteries like Mega Millions, EuroMillions, and EuroJackpot have followed suit by also implementing the two-drum system.

The minimum jackpot is $40 million and secondary winning amounts are fixed so you’ll always know what to expect with a win.

How Does Powerball Work?

You simply choose five numbers from a possible 59 along with one Powerball number from a possible 35. The draws are every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time in Tallahassee, Florida.

There is also an additional Power Play option that can be activated for an extra $1 per game: if you get any non-jackpot winnings, that amount could be multiplied by two, three, four or five times.

Payouts and Odds

If you win the grand jackpot you have two options: cash lump sum (after tax) or annuity. In the case of the latter, the total after tax deductions is paid out to you annually over 29 years (the first payment is immediate). Each year’s payment will be 4% higher than the one before it.

Have a look below to see the payment breakdown and the odds of winning:

PB only = $4 (1:55.41)
1 + PB = $4 (1:110.81)
2 + PB = $7 (1:706.43)
3 only = $7 (1:360.14)
3 + PB = $100 (1:12,244.83)
4 only = $100 (1:19,087.53)
4 + PB = $10,000 (1:648,975.96)
5 only = $1,000,000 (1:5,513,632.65)
5 + PB = jackpot (1: 175,223,510)

Powerball’s record highest jackpot win was a whopping $590.5 million! One lucky lady won it all to herself in May 2013; she opted to take the lump sum which, after deferral tax, amounted to about $370.8 million. This is not only an exciting record for Powerball and the winner, but it is actually the third largest lottery win of all time, worldwide.