Powerball is played across 48 US states and jurisdictions every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Find out everything you need to know about how to play this record-breaking lottery. Get information on the latest Powerball numbers and prizes, as well as details on the history of the game and previous jackpot winners.
Powerball players can win prizes in nine different tiers, from matching just the Powerball right up to the jackpot for matching all five numbers plus the Powerball.
Aside from the jackpot, which starts at $20 million and keeps getting bigger until it is won, the prize tiers in Powerball have fixed cash amounts. Here's a breakdown of the prize tiers and the odds for winning in that tier:
| Prize Tier | Odds of Winning | Prize | No. Winners in Last Draw | Average No. Winners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Match 5 + Powerball
|
1 in 292,201,338 | Jackpot | 0 | 0.1 |
Match 5
|
1 in 1 in 11,688,053 | $1 Million | 1 | 3.9 |
Match 4 + Powerball
|
1 in 913,129 | $50,000 | 5 | 25.5 |
Match 4 |
1 in 36,525 | $100 | 144 | 940.3 |
Match 3 + Powerball
|
1 in 14,494 | $100 | 402 | 1,288.1 |
Match 3
|
1 in 579 | $7 | 10,003 | 45,504.9 |
Match 2 + Powerball
|
1 in 701 | $7 | 7,810 | 21,585.5 |
Match 1 + Powerball
|
1 in 91 | $4 | 60,087 | 137,609.7 |
Powerball Only
|
1 in 38 | $4 | 143,113 | 283,474.2 |
The only exception to this chart is California, where cash prizes in lower tiers are pari-mutuel. Their values are determined by the number of winners in each tier and the number of tickets sold.
Power Play is an option you can add to your ticket that multiplies the value of the non-jackpot prizes you win. You can visit the Power Play page for more information and specifics, but the prizes you can win are found in the table below:
| Prize Level | Power Play 2x | Power Play 3x | Power Play 4x | Power Play 5x | Power Play 10x |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 5 + Powerball
|
Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot |
| Match 5
|
$2 Million | $2 Million | $2 Million | $2 Million | $2 Million |
| Match 4 + Powerball
|
$100,000 | $150,000 | $200,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 |
| Match 4
|
$200 | $300 | $400 | $500 | $1,000 |
| Match 3 + Powerball
|
$200 | $300 | $400 | $500 | $1,000 |
| Match 3
|
$14 | $21 | $28 | $35 | $70 |
| Match 2 + Powerball
|
$14 | $21 | $28 | $35 | $70 |
| Match 1 + Powerball
|
$8 | $12 | $16 | $20 | $40 |
| Powerball Only
|
$8 | $12 | $16 | $20 | $40 |
Double Play is an option you can add to your ticket in select jurisdictions. It costs an extra $1 and offers a second chance to win on your numbers in a separate draw with cash prizes of up to $10 million.
There are 27 lotteries that offer the Double Play option, and more may choose to do so in the future: Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington State.
Head over to the Double Play page for more details.
Choose five main numbers between 1 and 69 and a Powerball number between 1 and 26
Get Started
Players can enter their chosen numbers in up to 26 consecutive draws. Mark the number of games you want to play in the Multi Draw area, or leave blank to play just the one game.
Set up Advance Play
Choose whether to add Power Play, offering the chance to multiply non-jackpot prizes by up to 10x, for an additional $1 entry fee.
Power Play Time!
Choose whether to add Double Play (select states only) for a second chance to match your numbers in a separate draw with prizes up to $10 million. This also costs $1 extra to enter on each line.
Try Double Play
Buy your tickets by the cut-off time in your state or online. This ranges from 6:45pm PST in Washington to 10pm EST in New York and Florida. Players in Puerto Rico can play until 10:59pm when the clocks switch forward an hour over winter.
Try It Online
Powerball creates hundreds of thousands of winners in each draw, as players from across the U.S go in search of life-changing jackpots. The top prize starts at a minimum of $20 million and regularly grows into nine figures, sometimes even ten! The game has been responsible for many of the biggest winners in lottery history.
Here are the largest Powerball jackpots ever...
After 40 straight drawings without a winner, the jackpot pushed past $2 billion for the first time in history. A single ticket ended up matching all the numbers in the historic drawing, landing the lucky player a jackpot of $2.04 billion. Edwin Castro from California claimed the money more than three months later, having purchased his ticket at a gas station in Altadena. He described himself as 'shocked and ecstatic', and decided to take the lump sum payout.
After 46 jackpot rolls in a row, someone finally matched all the winning numbers on Christmas Eve 2025. It gave Arkansas its largest-ever lottery win, worth $1.816 billion. The lucky ticket was purchased in the city of Cabot, at Murphy USA 7879, located at 208 S. Rockwood. The winner claimed the money anonymously.
Two winning tickets - one sold in Missouri and one in Fredericksburg, Texas - split this colossal jackpot following a run of 41 drawings without a winner. It was the first time in more than three years that multiple players had matched all the numbers in the same drawing, and left each winner with a cut of $893.7 million before taxes (or a lump sum of $410.3 million). The Missouri winner opted to remain anonymous, while the Texan winner's name was also kept hidden as they claimed through the Seven Bridges Revocable Trust.
Another big win went to California as the second-largest jackpot in the history of the game (at the time) was won on October 11, 2023 after having rolled over 35 times. Lottery officials confirmed the winning ticket was purchased at the Midway Market and Liquor in Frazier Park in Kern County. The jackpot was claimed approximately five months later, in March 2024, by a representative of a group of winners, Theodorus Struyck.
The fifth-largest lottery jackpot of all time was shared by three ticket holders. John and Lisa Robinson from Munford in Tennessee quickly came forward, telling the world about their win on the Today show. David Kaltschmidt and Maureen Smith from Melbourne Beach in Florida soon claimed their share of the money, but it was another six months until Marvin and Mae Acosta from Chino Hills in California made themselves known to lottery officials.
After rolling over 40 times, the Powerball jackpot was finally won on April 6, 2024. This was the second win of the year and the eighth-largest across U.S. lotteries at the time, as well as the biggest ever seen in Oregon. The winners - Cheng and Duanpen Saephan, and Laiza Chao, came forward quickly to claim the win. It emerged that Cheng was a Laos-born cancer patient, and he said the jackpot would allow him to provide for his family and his health.
The seventh-largest jackpot in Powerball history was won on July 19, 2023. The Grand Prize rolled over for 38 draws to pass the $1 billion mark for the third time and was eventually won by a ticket sold in downtown Los Angeles, CA. The winner came forward to claim her prize in October 2023, but her identity was revealed the following year in March 2024 by the California Lottery. Yanira Alvarez chose the cash value option of $558.1 million.
Having only had two jackpot wins since joining Powerball in 2010, Illinois’ third turned out to be one of the biggest of all time, and the Prairie State’s second billion-dollar payout after the Mega Millions success of 2022. The winner purchased their ticket from a Hy-Vee gas station at 310 N. 36th St. in Quincy, and was left facing a decision over whether to take the 10-figure sum as an annuity or go for the cash option of $450.5 million.
As 2023 came to an end, the jackpot looked poised to hit 10 figures for the third time in six months. However, a single ticket, sold in Grand Blanc, Michigan, matched all the numbers to land a prize worth $842.4 million. It was claimed almost six months later by a three-member group called 'The Breakfast Club'. They said it would benefit their families for generations to come.
Manuel Franco from Milwaukee claimed a gigantic $768.4 million when he matched all the numbers to end a three-month wait for a jackpot winner. It was a new record for the largest prize ever won on a single ticket and the 24-year-old said that he had just felt a 'really lucky, weird feeling' when he bought his ticket. He gave up work straight away and announced that he wanted to 'help out the world'.
Powerball is one of the biggest lottery games in the United States and regularly boasts eight, nine or even ten-figure jackpots. Read on to discover more about how this multi-state game came into existence and how changes in format have made Powerball one of the most popular and exciting lotteries in the world.
Results provided by kind permission of Powerball.net
The Powerball jackpot starts at $20 million and rolls until there is a winner. The current jackpot is $48 Million.
Yes. If multiple players match all the numbers, the jackpot is divided equally between the winning tickets.
The biggest win in Powerball history is the $2.04 billion payout that went to Edwin Castro from California in November 2022. The jackpot has passed $1 billion several times.
No, if Double Play is available in your state, it can only be played as an add-on alongside Powerball, not on its own. It costs an additional $1 per play.
The cut-off time for ticket sales varies from state to state, but it is usually around an hour before the draw takes place.
The minimum age depends on where you buy your ticket. In most locations, you must be at least 18 years old, but some states have different rules. For example, the minimum age in Nebraska is 19, while you must be 21 or older in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana and Mississippi.
If you lose your ticket, immediately contact your state lottery to report it. Depending on the state, you may not be able to claim the prize at all, or you might be allowed to prove ownership by providing specific details about when and where you purchased it. It is a good idea to sign your ticket when you buy it so that nobody else can claim it belongs to them.
You must claim your prize from the state lottery where you purchased your ticket. Prizes up to $600 can be claimed from authorized retailers, while larger amounts must be claimed by mail or at a regional lottery office or headquarters.
Claim deadlines differ by state, varying in length from 90 days to one year. If you win the jackpot and want to take the cash option, your state may require you to claim within 60 days.
Larger Powerball prizes are subject to federal taxes (24%–37%), plus applicable state and local taxes based on where you bought the ticket, not where you live.
Jackpot winners can choose between a lump sum or an annuity. The lump-sum option pays out the current jackpot cash pool all at once, while the annuity invests the funds to pay out a guaranteed income over 29 years. The annuity option accumulates investment returns over time alongside the initial prize, so the total payout is always significantly higher than the immediate cash lump sum.
This all depends on where you bought your ticket. Many states nowadays allow winners to stay anonymous, or claim thorough a legal trust to effectively keep private. However, some states regard winner information as a matter of public record, so it is not possible to remain anonymous in these locations.
See jackpot amounts for every Powerball draw that has taken place in the last six months below. Separately, you can scroll back and see the percentage and value increase/decrease of each draw compared to the previous one.
