Powerball is one of the largest lottery games in the United States, offered across 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Administered by the Multi-State Lottery Association since its launch on April 19, 1992, Powerball is famed for its massive jackpots—frequently reaching into the billions of dollars The Sun+4Wikipedia+4taxproplus-la.com+4.
Choose 5 white balls from numbers 1–69, plus 1 red Powerball from 1–26 Wikipedia+1Wired+1.
Each standard play costs $2.
Optional: Add Power Play (+$1) to multiply non-jackpot prizes (2×–5×, or 10× when the jackpot is under $150M) Powerball+5Wikipedia+5CT Insider+5.
In select regions, you can pay another $1 for Double Play, a secondary draw with a fixed $10M top prize Wikipedia.
Drawings occur Mondays, Wednesdays & Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. ET Wikipedia+1CT Insider+1.
Jackpot odds are 1 in 292,201,338 per ticket TaxAct+15Wikipedia+15The Sun+15. Here's a snapshot:
Match Combo | Base Prize | With Power Play Odds* |
---|---|---|
5 + Powerball | Jackpot | Same odds × Power Play doesn’t apply |
5 + 0 | $1,000,000 | Doubles to $2,000,000 |
4 + Powerball | $50,000 | 2×–5× multiplier |
3 + Powerball | $100 | 2×–5× multiplier |
2 + Powerball | $7 | 2×–5× multiplier |
1 + Powerball | $4 | 2×–5× multiplier |
0 + Powerball | $4 | 2×–5× multiplier |
*Power Play offers higher multipliers when jackpot is under $150M Wired+7Wikipedia+7The Sun+7.
Overall odds of winning any prize are approximately 1 in 24.9