The US Powerball lottery is one of the most popular lotteries in the United States with jackpots starting at $20 million and second prizes of at least $1 million. Powerball is the holder of the world RECORD for highest jackpot ever delivered: $1.58 billion (January, 2016).
Playing Powerball online is quite easy. The rules of the lottery are the same as when buying your lottery ticket offline.
- Choose 5 main numbers from 1 to 69 and a Powerball number from 1 to 26;
- Optionally, you can add the Power Play multiplier to your ticket so that the value of your secondary prizes gets a boost if you win.
To win the jackpot, you must match all five main numbers plus the additional Powerball. Second and third prize winnings are also hefty for matching five main balls and four main balls plus the additional Powerball, respectively.
How to Play Powerball Online
If you live outside US, you can buy Powerball tickets online. All you need to do is create an account on one of the platforms offering lottery messenger services such as theLotter, or on a bet-on platform such as WinTrillions.
Online operators offer several different ways to play. For instance, you can enter the game with a simple one-time entry consisting of one or several lines. Many lottery couriers offer the option of buying shares in a syndicate.
When are the Powerball Draws?
US Powerball draws are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET. The drawings are conducted at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Sales cut-off times vary by one to two hours before the drawing, depending on the lottery courier provider you are using.
Starting August 2021, the Powerball lottery will hold 3 draws a week: on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
If you want to make sure you don’t miss any draw, you can also play Powerball with a multi-draw, which means you enter multiple consecutive draws. Alternatively, you can decide to get a subscription, which will enter you in every consecutive draw until you unsubscribe.
How Big is the Powerball Jackpot?
The top prize starts at $20 million, but if nobody matches the winning numbers, it continues to grow. With no jackpot cap, Powerball’s top prize can get to amazing heights. To win the jackpot, you have to match all the 5 main numbers and the Powerball.
The record level was reached in the draw of January 13th, 2016, when Powerball boasted an unprecedented $1.58 billion. There is only one other lottery that got close to this – Mega Millions, with the $1.53 billion jackpot from October 2018.
Powerball Prizes & Odds
US Powerball offers 8 categories of secondary prizes, besides the jackpot. The jackpot is at least $20 million, but you can become a millionaire also with the second prize, worth $1 million. But, that’s not all! The second prize as well as the other 7 secondary prizes can boost their value with Powerplay.
The odds of winning a Powerball prize start at 1:38 for the 9th category, matching just the Powerball. The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are of 1:292,201,338. This may sound scary, but remember that every year there are quite a few lucky ones that see their lives changed is a second by the US Powerball numbers.
| Prize Divisions | Match | Prize | Winning Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Prize | ⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪ + 🟠 | Jackpot | 1:292,201,338 |
| 2nd Prize | ⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪ | $1,000,000 | 1:111,688,053 |
| 3rd Prize | ⚪⚪⚪⚪ + 🟠 | $50,000 | 1:913,129 |
| 4th Prize | ⚪⚪⚪⚪ | $100 | 1:36,525 |
| 5th Prize | ⚪⚪⚪ + 🟠 | $100 | 1:14,494 |
| 6th Prize | ⚪⚪⚪ | $7 | 1:579 |
| 7th Prize | ⚪⚪ + 🟠 | $7 | 1:701 |
| 8th Prize | ⚪ + 🟠 | $4 | 1:92 |
| 9th Prize | 🟠 | $4 | 1:38 |
Power Play Multiplier
The Power Play option is a special add-on feature that allows a winner to boost the original prize amount (except the jackpot) by two to five times! There is also a Powerball x10 option, available only when the jackpot is below $150 million.
So, with Powerball, you can win an insane amount of money, even if you don’t win the jackpot. What are you waiting for? Start playing the US online Powerball right now!
| Match | Prize Amount | Power Play x2 | Power Play x5 | Power Play x10 |
| ⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪ + 🟠 | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot |
| ⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪ | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
| ⚪⚪⚪⚪ + 🟠 | $50,000 | $100,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 |
| ⚪⚪⚪⚪ | $100 | $200 | $500 | $1,000 |
| ⚪⚪⚪ + 🟠 | $100 | $200 | $500 | $1,000 |
| ⚪⚪⚪ | $7 | $14 | $35 | $70 |
| ⚪⚪ + 🟠 | $7 | $14 | $35 | $70 |
| ⚪ + 🟠 | $4 | $8 | $20 | $40 |
| 🟠 | $4 | $8 | $20 | $40 |
Powerball Record Jackpots
Powerball holds the world record for biggest lottery jackpot ever with the $1.58 billion prize it delivered in January 2016. This mouth-watering prize was split by the holders of the 3 winning tickets: John and Lisa Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt from Melbourne Beach, Florida, and Mae and Marvin Acosta from Chino Hills, California. They each had a $530 million share of the prize. Those who decided to cash the prize as lump sum, scooped $327.8 million before taxes.
On the second position stands a winner from March 2019 – Manuel Franco, who won a $768.4 million jackpot. His story made the tour of the world. At the age of 24, he became Powerball’s biggest winner, this being the biggest Powerball jackpot won on a single ticket. Manuel Franco cashed in the prize as a lump sum payout, which was worth $477 million. This left him with $326 million after taxes.
Biggest Online Powerball Winners
Below is a sample list of the biggest online Powerball winners. As you can see most of them have decided to remain anonymous.
- April, 2012 – B.U. from the UK won $1 million (theLotter)
- January, 2016 – H.V. from El Salvador won $1 million (theLotter)
- February, 2016 – P. from Quebec won $1 million (theLotter)
- October, 2016 – G. from Australia won $1 million (theLotter)
- Early in 2016 – Mathias from Hannover, Germany won $1 million (LottoLand)
- February, 2010 – Johann T. from Pretoria, South Africa won $200,000 in the US Powerball (PlayhugeLottos)
Taxes on US Powerball Prizes
Anyone who wins Powerball prizes has to pay taxes on the win. The level of taxation depends on the value of the prize as well as on the winner’s residence status. You should also know there are two types of taxes: federal taxes and state taxes.
- Prizes worth $599.99 or less are exempt from taxation.
- For prizes over $600, US residents have to pay a federal tax of 25%, while for non US residents the federal tax is of 30%.
- Additionally, state taxes may apply, depending on where the winning ticket was purchased. State taxes vary from state to state. There are states such as California, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming which do no tax lottery winning at all.
You should know that most lottery services providers do not allow you to chose the state where your Powerball ticket will be bought.
FAQs about US Powerball
No, you don’t have to be US citizen or resident to play Powerball. If you play Powerball with official tickets, you need to make sure your lottery messenger services provider purchases the tickets for you. If you use a bet-on service, you just need to make sure you are playing on a reliable platform.
No, it is not mandatory to play with the Power Play. This is an optional extra feature. But, remember it can boost the value of your prizes by up to 5 times.
Yes, the cost is slightly higher when buying Powerball tickets online. The extra cost comes for the service of purchasing the ticket on your behalf that the lottery courier service has. Betting-on services come at similar prices to offline tickets.
US Powerball Results
Right after the winning numbers have been draw, all draw participants want to check the results and see if they won one of the amazing Powerball prizes. Below you can check the results for the latest 5 drawd. For more Powerball results, click here.