The Powerball: America’s Jackpot Game

Powerball is a lottery game in the United States coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). It replaced Lotto America in 1992. It is played in 44 jurisdictions as a combined jackpot game and cash game whose jackpot starts at $20 million and can roll into hundreds of millions over drawings. The jackpot prize can be claimed as an annuitized prize paid over a period of 29 years (30 payments) with an annual percentage increase set by the Powerball game rules or it can also be a lump sum payment as the player may prefer.

Drawings are held at 10:59 PM (Eastern Time) every Wednesdays and Saturdays at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida starting January 2009. Draws were previously held at ITC Studios in West Des Moines, Iowa since the game started. Anybody 18 years old and above can purchase a ticket which costs $1. The official cut off time for ticket sales is one hour before the drawing although some jurisdictions have an earlier cut-off time. Drawing results become official only after they are audited by Powerball’s auditing firm, LWBJ, LLP.

The Game Play

To select winning numbers, the game uses a 5/59 and 1/39 matrix. Five (5) white balls are drawn out of a drum with 59 balls and one (1) red ball is drawn out of a drum with 39 balls. The object of the game is for players to pick six (6) numbers between 1 and 59 and one “Powerball” number between 1 and 39. The Powerball number can be the same as one of the five “white ball” numbers. If the numbers drawn match the all numbers you picked, you win the jackpot. You can also win second prize if the first five “white ball numbers” match your first 5 number picks in any order.

A special feature of the Powerball game is PowerPlay which allows a  winner of $3 to $10,000 to increase the original prize amount for as much as 5 times, or even 10 times during promotional periods. The PowerPlay multiplier is randomly selected by computerized drawing before the regular draw of winning numbers. For an extra $1, a player can choose the Power Play option when buying his or her Powerball ticket. The ticket must then match one of the 9 Ways to Win before the multiplier takes effect. If PowerPlay is in effect for a second prize winning ticket ($200,000), the prize will be multiplied 5 times regardless of the PowerPlay number drawn giving the player $1 million dollars in prizes.

Nine Ways to Win

There are nine ways to win Powerball. A ticket may win  by matching just one number. Check out the following matches including your odds for winning:

Match	Prize	Odds
5 + 1	Jackpot	1 in 195 million
5 + 0	$200,000	1 in 5.1 million
4 + 1	$10,000	1 in 724 thousand
4 + 0	$100	1 in 19 thousand
3 + 1	$100	1 in 14 thousand
3 + 0	$7	1 in 359
2 + 1	$7	1 in 787
1 + 1	$4	1 in 123
0 + 1	$3	1 in 61

The overall odds of winning is 1 in 35. In case more than one person wins the jackpot, the prize will be equally divided among the winners. However, prizes from $3 to $200,000 are fixed so each winner is paid the prize amount in full. Prizes can be claimed from 90 days to one year. Like in any other lottery game, the corresponding Federal, State and local taxes shall be withheld from the winnings.

Game Expansion in 2010

New Jersey, a Mega Millions member sought permission to join Powerball in March 2009. Discussions ensued shortly after about allowing each US Lottery to sell both games. The MUSL and Mega Millions consortium, in October 2009, agreed in principle to cross sell both games in US lottery jurisdictions. A month later, MUSL signed an agreement for the online drawing of Powerball. The game’s expansion to 43 jurisdictions started with the addition of 10 Mega Million members in January 2010. Cross selling picked up leaving only 10 jurisdictions with just Powerball.

New Jersey became the first former Mega Millions-only member in March 2010 to produce a jackpot winning Powerball ticket worth $211 million annuity. Conversely, in May 2010, North Carolina became the first former Powerball-only member to produce a jackpot winning Mega Millions ticket worth $12 million annuity.

Playing the Lottery over the Internet

The MUSL and state lotteries have declared playing the lottery over the internet to be absolutely illegal. Their reason is not crystal clear though but there have been past cases where people purchased a lottery ticket from an internet website and won. The lottery attempted to block them from receiving their prize and the case was taken to court and winners won and got their prizes. To avoid legalities, it is always best to play safe and literally avoid playing lottery over the internet as the bigger threat of getting ripped off is always there. Who knows, you might even be aiding scammers in the process.

Upcoming Changes

Some changes in the Powerball game shall be implemented starting January of 2012. There will be an increase in ticket price from $1 to $2; and $3 with PowerPlay.  Instead of 39, 35 red “Powerballs” shall be used. Players will be guaranteed a minimum jackpot prize of $40 million and $1 million prize awaits any non-jackpot play with 5 white ball matches.

Whatever changes may occur to Powerball in the future, the players only wish that their chances of winning be higher so their dreams may come true.

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