Powerball

Powerball is an American lottery game sold in 44 jurisdictions as a shared jackpot game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a non-profit organization formed by an agreement with lotteries. Powerball is a game whose advertised jackpot starts at $20 million (annuity) and can roll into the hundreds of millions over many drawings. The jackpot is paid as a 30-payment annuity; players may choose cash instead. Powerball drawings are held Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern time. The game currently uses a 5/59 (white balls) + 1/39 (Powerballs) matrix to select its winning numbers. Each selection of six numbers costs players $1 for the base game; for an extra $1, they can multiply a non-jackpot prize by up to 5 (10 during promotional periods) with the Power Play multiplier. The official cutoff time for ticket sales is one hour before drawings; some jurisdictions cut sales earlier. The drawings usually are held at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Occasionally, drawings are held "on location", often to promote the game's expansion to a new jurisdiction. The results of drawings are not official until they are audited by the accounting firm LWBJ, LLP.

Powerball holds the record for the largest prize awarded for one set of numbers drawn in a US lottery game; on February 18, 2006, one ticket won the $365 million jackpot. The eight people sharing the ticket chose the cash option, splitting $177,270,519.67 before withholdings.

2010 expansion of Mega Millions and Powerball

On October 13, 2009, MUSL and the Mega Millions consortium signed an agreement to allow US lotteries to sell both games, no longer requiring exclusivity. The expansion occurred on January 31, 2010, as 10 Mega Millions members began selling Powerball tickets for their first drawing on February 3, 2010; simultaneously, 23 Powerball members began offering Mega Millions tickets for their first drawing on February 2, 2010. On March 1, 2010, Montana (by joining Mega Millions) was the first jurisdiction to join the other game after the cross-selling expansion. Later that month, Nebraska, followed by Oregon, also joined Mega Millions; Arizona followed suit on April 18, 2010, and Maine joined Mega Millions on May 9, 2010. Colorado and South Dakota joined Mega Millions on May 16, 2010. The most recent MUSL-only member joining Mega Millions is the US Virgin Islands, in October 2010. (Ohio joined Powerball on April 16, 2010.) Powerball is played in 44 jurisdictions, with Mega Millions available in 43; currently, 42 sell tickets for both games.

It is likely the cross-selling arrangement is a temporary measure as the lotteries investigate the possibility of merging the two games. According to the New Hampshire Lottery website, a "combined" lottery game is expected to be implemented by October 2011; minimum play would be $5. Game concepts are being tested.

Basic game

The minimum Powerball bet is $1. In each game, players select 5 numbers from a set of 59 white balls, and 1 number from 39 red Powerballs. Players can select their own numbers, and/or they can have the lottery terminal randomly select numbers (called "quick pick", "easy pick", etc. depending on the jurisdiction). In each drawing, winning numbers are selected using two ball machines; one contains white balls numbered 1 through 59; the other contains the red Powerballs numbered 1 through 39. Five balls are drawn from the first machine, and one from the second machine; these are the winning numbers. Games matching at least three white balls and/or the red Powerball win.

The drawing order of the five white balls is irrelevant; all tickets show the five white ball numbers in ascending order. Players do not have to match the white numbers in draw order, but they cannot use the drawn Powerball number to match one of their white numbers, or vice versa. Occasionally, a drawing occurs where a white ball matches the red ball.

Two identical machines are used for each drawing, randomly selected from four machines. The model of machine used is the Halogen, manufactured by Smartplay International of Edgewater Park, New Jersey. There are eight ball sets (four white, four red); one set of each color is randomly selected before a drawing. The balls are mixed by a turntable at the bottom of the machine that propels the balls around the chamber. When the machine selects a ball, the turntable slows to catch it, sends it up the shaft, and then down the rail to the display.

The double matrix has varied:

Starting date Pick 5 of Pick 1 of Jackpot odds Power Play multipliers

April 22, 1992 45 45 1:54,979,154 none

November 5, 1997 49 42 1:80,089,127 none

March 7, 2001 49 42 1:80,089,127 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x

October 9, 2002 53 42 1:120,526,770 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x

August 28, 2005 55 42 1:146,107,962 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x

January 7, 2009 59 39 1:195,249,053 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x

Power Play

For an additional $1 per game, a player may activate the Power Play option, which applies a multiplier (drawn by random number generator (RNG) just before the Powerball drawing) to all prize levels except the jackpot and second prize. Depending on the multiplier, winners multiply the appropriate prize level by 2 to 5. The multiplier for the 5+0 second prize always is 5x.

The dilemma for players is whether to maximize the chance at the jackpot, or "half" the chance at the jackpot in exchange for an increase in lower-level prize(s). The average Power Play multiplier is about 3.5, since 5+0 is guaranteed to be 5x).

In 2006 and 2007, MUSL replaced one of the 5x spaces on the then-Power Play wheel with a 10x. During each month-long promotion, MUSL guaranteed that there would be at least one drawing where the 10x multiplier would be drawn. The promotion returned in 2008; the ball landed in the 10x space twice. After skipping 2009, the 10x multiplier returned in May 2010 (after the Power Play drawing was changed to the current RNG.) The promotion was extended for the first time, as the 10x multiplier was not drawn until June 12. The second prize 5x guarantee continued as usual; the 10x applied to all non-jackpot prizes, as in previous promotions.

Power Play 's success has led to similar multipliers in other games, such as the tripler in MUSL's smaller Hot Lotto, called Sizzler, and Megaplier, available in 39 of the 43 Mega Millions jurisdictions; all Mega Millions members are required to offer Megaplier by January 2011.

The Florida Lottery added Xtra to its Florida Lotto game on October 14, 2009.