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Pros
- Biggest Lottery in the World
- Many Small Prizes to be Won
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Cons
- Extremely Rare
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Bottom Line
The US Powerball is the biggest lottery jackpot payout to this date.
JackpotFinder Editor's Rating
The first Powerball was drawn on April 19th, 1992. Owned by the Multi-State Lottery Association, the Powerball is held bi-weekly. On Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 pm Eastern Time. Within this Powerball Jackpot analysis, we take a look at the history, winners and Mega Millions rivalry.
History
Although the US Powerball was launched officially in 1992, the Multi-State Lottery Association was formed at the end of 1987. It was only a couple of months later in 1988 when the institution initiated the Lotto America. In case you didn’t know already, the Powerball was first known as Lotto America.
Over the years, the US Powerball grew in popularity stretching to a total of 45 States in addition to the District of Colorado, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Also, according to the best jackpot site ratings, it has the most user-friendly online facility compared to another jackpots in the US.
How to Claim Powerball Jackpot
The US Powerball costs $2 per play. There are 5 white balls, from numbers 1-69, and one red ‘Powerball’. The Powerball ranges between 1 and 26.
To win the grand prize, you’ll want to have a ticket with at least 5 correct match numbers. In addition, you’ll need the correct Powerball number as well.
In the early 2000’s, the lottery service introduced the Power Play multiplier. This function works perfectly for lower-tier prizes but is disregarded should you win hit the jackpot.
The Power Play will see small combinations be doubled, tripled, quadrupled, quintupled or even decupled. For our non-Latin speakers, that means the multiplier will sometimes even enhance your ticket by 10 times!
To buy the option for Power Play, you’ll need to pay an additional $1 on-top of your ticket price.
And, if you would like to learn more about strategies that actually work, take a glimpse at our in-depth guides to win the jackpot.
Largest Winners
What’s so loved about both the Powerball and Mega Millions lottery is the no-cap limit. That is to say, because both lotteries are progressive, they don’t have a maximum value. The sky’s the limit.
The Powerball starts at a low $40 million and keeps growing until someone wins the grand prize. The history books show that the largest jackpot win ever to date was in October 2016. Three lucky players were fortunate enough to win the $1.586 billion prize.
Some other notable wins include 2019’s $768.4 million won by a 24-year-old man in Wisconsin. The figure went down in history as the third largest US win ever.
It’s worth mentioning that winners can choose between having the cash all in one go or by selecting an annuity, where they get paid yearly for 30 years with a 5% interest rate.
Powerball and Mega Millions
Before 2010, states would either sell Mega Millions or Powerball lottery tickets. As you may imagine, these were the two giants of the lottery market in the US.
However, on January 31st, 2010, states started buying-in to the idea of the ‘Mega Power Lottery’. That meant some states, such as Montana, Colorado, South Dakota and Arizona, would sell both Mega Millions and Powerball tickets.
This development was huge for both lottery companies with now 47 states offering both Mega Millions and Powerball options.
Powerball Jackpot Analysis: Overall Assessment
Many lottery players in the world would find appeal in what the US Powerball offers its citizens. Thus, online lottery operators such as theLotter or Lotto Agent, act as the middleman to help you participate.
By reaching out to the online lottery sites, you’ll find that you can pretty much play the US Powerball, as well as other lotteries worldwide, siting in your living room. The concept is intriguing and certainly makes the Powerball a more universal lottery.
Allowed Countries
- United States