About Powerball Lotto
Powerball Lottery History
There were many games in lotto history, but there is only one Powerball. The untouchable, record holding lotto ($1,586.5 billion!), the one with the biggest jackpot in lotto history, the one that everybody wants to play, the one that turns the American dream into your reality.
The first draw in Powerball lottery history was held in April 1992, and the game has been growing stronger and bigger each year. The draws are held every Wednesday and Saturday and players choose five numbers out of 69 plus the additional Powerball out of 26. But, it hasn’t always been like this. When it first began, players were choosing five numbers out of 45 and one additional number also out of 45. The odds of winning a jackpot at the beginning were 1:54,979,154. The next big change happened in 2001 when the Power Play option was introduced. It added the possibility for players to multiply their non-jackpot winnings up to five times. At that time pools of numbers players were choosing from were 49 and 42. Those numbers have changed six more times in the last 17 years, with the last change happening in October 2015. That’s when the game was changed to what it is today: 5/69 and PowerBall 1/26.
Also, other than giving players the option to multiply their non-jackpot winnings up to five times, Power Play now also has the option of multiplying smaller winnings 10 times in draws where jackpot is under 150 million dollars. The odds of winning a jackpot currently stand at 1:292,201,338.
The cost of a basic ticket is 2 dollars, and, as mentioned, an additional one dollar to play Power Play. The game is played in 44 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Those who win a jackpot can choose if they want the payout through annuities (30 years) or one-time cash payout and have 60 days to collect their prizes. Starting jackpot is 40 million dollars.
As mentioned, Powerball holds the record for the biggest jackpot in lotto history. But that hasn’t even scratched the surface. In 2005, a family from Oregon won 340 million dollars, and just a year later, in 2006, a jackpot of 365 million dollars was won in Nebraska by eight people who played together. In 2007, a 314 million dollar jackpot went to Ohio, and this is where it all went completely crazy. In 2013, the biggest single-ticket jackpot at the time, 590,5 million dollars, went to an old lady in Florida. In 2017, one lucky guy in Massachusetts won an astounding amount of 750 million dollars. And just one year before that, the biggest jackpot in lottery history, 1,586 billion dollars, was shared between three people. What do you think, are those facts enough to make you want to play? Do it today, here!
Powerball Odds
Match
5 + Powerball
5
4 + Powerball
4
3 + Powerball
3
2 + Powerball
1 + Powerball
Powerball
Winning Odds
1:292,201,338
1:11,688,053
1:913,129
1:36,525
1:14,494
1:579
1:701
1:91
1:38
Prize
Jackpot
$1,000,000
$50,000
$ 100
$ 100
$ 7
$ 7
$ 4
$ 4