Did you know that the Powerball is available in 44 states? Nevada, Alabama, Mississippi, Utah, Alaska, and Hawaii currently do not participate in the Powerball; they don't even have their own state lotteries.
If you live/bought a ticket in the other 44 states, you might be wondering when are Powerball drawings, anyway? Read on to find out.
What Is the Powerball?
First off, the Powerball isn't exclusive to the United States. Non-US citizens are allowed to play and win. As long as you are 18 years or older, you can play participate in the Powerball drawings.
Powerball is considered to be America's game. The first Powerball drawing was held on April 22, 1992. Fifteen places participated in the first drawing, Delaware, Washington D.C, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Hoosier Indiana.
Powerball set a record jackpot in January 2016 of $1.586 billion. The winners that shared this jackpot lived in California, Florida, and Tennessee.
A Powerball ticket is currently $2. When it first came out in 1992, the lottery ticket cost $1.
When Are Powerball Drawings?
The Powerball drawings are held on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 pm EST. They are live-streamed on Powerball's website from Tallahassee, Florida.
All sales of Powerball tickets are cut off every drawing night approximately an hour prior to the drawings.
How to Play Powerball
You've learned what the Powerball is, but how is it played?
When you buy your Powerball lottery ticket, you or the cashier is allowed to, if asked, select five numbers, ranging from 1 to 69.
After choosing your first five numbers, you then select the sixth number, ranging from 1 to 26. This acts as the bonus number, the red Powerball.
What are the Powerball Prizes?
Having a winning lottery ticket doesn't mean that you can only win the jackpot. There is a separate cash prize if you have a specific combination of numbers matching the winning ticket.
The number combinations and prize amounts are as follows:
- Five numbers = $1 million
- Four numbers plus Powerball = $50,000
- Four numbers = $100
- Three numbers plus Powerball = $100
- Three numbers = $7
- Two numbers plus Powerball = $7
- One number plus Powerball =$4
- Powerball = $4
Most of these amounts don't offer much as a reward, but for $2, it might be worth the risk to see if you win.
What Can You Do To Increase Your Chances?
While the odds may not seem to be in your favor, there is a little addition that can potentially increase your payout/odds, the Power Play.
Powerball offers the Power Play option on their tickets; it costs an additional $1, making your ticket $3. However, it will increase your chances by two, three, four, five, and sometimes even ten times (this option is not always available) what it would be without the Power Play.
The Power Play multiplier only applies to the lower prizes, $4, $7, and $10. Choosing the Power Play option can potentially make $4 into $40, $7 into $40, and $100 into $1,000.
Let's discuss the odds, if the 20x multiplier is available, the odds are as follows:
- 10x = 1 in 43
- 5x = 1 in 21.5
- 4x = 1 in 14.33
- 3x = 1 in 3.31
- 2x = 1 in 1.79
If the 10x multiplier isn't available, the odds for the 2x,3x,4x, and 5x, are as follows:
- 2x = 1 in 1.75
- 3x = 1 in 3.23
- 4x = 1 in 14
- 5x = 1 in 21
There is not much difference between the 10x multiplier and the 2x-5x multipliers.
Where To Find More Information
We hope this answered your question, "When are Powerball drawings?"
If you find yourself in a state that doesn't have Powerball tickets, you can always drive to the closest state that does. Just because you live in said states, that doesn't mean you can't play and potentially win.
