Powerball drawing - 10 things to know with detail
- 1. Powerball is a multi-state lottery game that is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
- 2. The Powerball drawing takes place twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday nights at 10:59 pm Eastern Time.
- 3. To play Powerball, players must choose five numbers from a set of 1-69 and one Powerball number from a set of 1-26.
- 4. The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. However, there are nine different ways to win a prize in Powerball, with overall odds of winning a prize being 1 in 24.
- 5. The Powerball jackpot starts at $20 million and increases by a minimum of $2 million for each drawing where the jackpot is not won.
- 6. If a player wins the Powerball jackpot, they can choose to receive the prize as a lump sum cash payment or as an annuity paid out over 30 years.
- 7. The largest Powerball jackpot in history was $1.586 billion, which was won by three ticket holders in January 2016.
- 8. Powerball drawings are conducted at the Florida Lottery's studio in Tallahassee using state-of-the-art lottery equipment and overseen by independent auditors and security officials.
- 9. The winning Powerball numbers are randomly selected using two machines – one for the white balls and one for the red Powerball.
- 10. Players can watch the Powerball drawing live on television or online, or check the winning numbers on the official Powerball website or through lottery retailers.