Check Your Powerball Numbers Today - Latest Jackpot
Powerball jackpots can get incredibly high due to the fact that anytime a drawing occurs and there is not a winner, the potential winning roll over to the next drawing. Still, as winnings rollover, ticket sales increase, and increased ticket sales lead to increased chances of a winner. As chances increase, sometimes there are multiple jackpot winners per drawing, so the winnings per ticket are not always so exuberant as the jackpot number itself. As well, the winning per ticket greatly decrease should the player choose the cash value as compared to the annuity.
What Is the Powerball?
Powerball is a type of lottery that is run in every state in the USA except for Utah, Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Mississippi. The Powerball is not run by individual states but is instead run by a multi-state organization called the MUSL. Still, states are allowed to keep the profits from the tickets they sell and put them into whichever government programs they choose.
How Does Powerball Work?
The Powerball has an incredibly high jackpot and players also run the chance of winning varying levels of smaller cash prizes should they not hit the jackpot. Powerball drawings use two drums, one that draws 5 white balls and one that draws a single red ball, the “Powerball”. Players will choose 5 numbers for the white balls and 1 number for the Powerball. The numbers they choose for the white balls all need to be drawn but they do not have to be drawn in order. Of course, the number they choose for the Powerball is the most important number of all, and order doesn’t matter here either because there is only one.
When Do Drawings Occur?
Drawing occurs on both Wednesdays and Saturdays around 10:00 CT. Drawings take place in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios. The numbers that are drawn will be broadcast on television, printed in newspapers, shared online, and put up on the official Powerball website.
How Does The Jackpot Increase?
A unique aspect of Powerball is that the drawing does not necessarily entail a winner, as the numbers that are drawn at any given time are not necessarily numbers that have been picked by or given at random to a player. Should this be the case, the jackpot rolls over to the next drawing, which results in the incredibly high payouts Powerball has become known for.
The higher the jackpot becomes, the more people will go out and buy tickets, meaning that the chances of a winner being drawn increase nearly exponentially with each additional rollover. Jackpots routinely reach over $100,000,000, and the largest jackpot ever on record was over $1,500,000,000. So, you can see why it is so popular. Jackpots will never be less than $40,000,000 but theoretically have no cap, although the higher the jackpot becomes, the lower the chances are that there won’t be a winner due to the increase in tickets sold.
Are There Any Other Prizes?
Beyond the jackpot, and even if there isn’t one, Powerball drawings also reward many smaller cash prizes each time. These smaller cash prizes can be a good deal larger if you opt for the PowerPlay option when purchasing your ticket for only $1 extra. Matching the Powerball number by itself or with just one single white ball will net you $4 without the PowerPlay option or $8 to $40 with it, depending on a random “multiplier” ball that is also drawn that can multiply smaller cash prizes of up to $20,000 to 5 times their original value (making $20,000 into $100,000). There is also a potential 10-times multiplier that is in play when jackpots are less than $150,000,000.
The more of the white numbers you match after the first one, the more your reward grows, and this increases greatly when adding the PowerPlay option, which is well worth the extra $1 if you’re already buying a ticket. With the PowerPlay option, any smaller reward from a matching Powerball and 4 or less matching white balls will be multiplied by whatever multiplier ball is drawn, while the $1,000,000 reward for matching a Powerball and 5 white balls will be doubled (multipliers will never affect this reward, it is only ever doubled). Tens of thousands of small prize winners receive larger payouts due to the PowerPlay option in every drawing.
How Much Does a Powerball Ticket Cost?
A regular ticket will cost the player $2 while, as stated, the additional PowerPlay option costs an extra $1. Players will choose 5 white ball numbers and 1 Powerball number. Players can choose their own numbers, whether they be lucky numbers or numbers they have come up with by counting the odds based on past jackpots drawn, or they can have numbers generated for them at random.
Is It Worth It To Play Powerball?
While the odds of winning a jackpot are incredibly slim, it doesn’t take a lot of money to buy a ticket and there are tens of thousands of smaller cash prizes available that have greatly increased odds. Profits often go into the education budget and are generally always used for something beneficial to the states. As well, playing Powerball can be a fun and exciting pastime with or without winning.
The 10 Largest Powerball Jackpots of All Time
Regardless of these facts, the initial number that is the advertised jackpot really stands out over all the other minutiae, and it can be fun to look at just what the biggest winning jackpots of all time have been. Here is a look at the 10 largest jackpots of all time.
10. $456,700,000
The tenth-largest jackpot of all time was approximately $456,700,000 and was won on March 7, 2018. There was only one winning ticket, which had been purchased by someone from Pennsylvania. This winner would have been able to receive approximately $269,400,400 in cash.
9. $487,100,000
The ninth-largest jackpot of all time was approximately $487,100,000 and was won on July 30, 2016. This jackpot also had just one winning ticket, this time purchased in New Hampshire. This winner would have been able to receive approximately $341,700,000 in cash.
8. $559,700,000
The eighth-largest jackpot of all time was approximately $559,700,000 on January 6, 2018. This jackpot had one winning ticket, as well, and this winning ticket was actually once again purchased in New Hampshire! This winner would have been able to receive approximately $352,000,000 in cash.
7. $564,100,000
The seventh-largest jackpot of all time was approximately $564,100,000 on February 11, 2015. This jackpot had three winning tickets that had been purchased in North Carolina, Puerto Rico, and Texas. Each winner would have been able to receive approximately $127,000,000 in cash.
6. $587,500,000
The sixth-largest jackpot of all time was approximately $587,500,000 on November 18, 2012. This jackpot had two winning tickets that had been purchased in Arizona and Missouri. Each winner would have been able to receive approximately $192,400,000 in cash.
The Missouri winners were publicized as Cindy Hill and Mark Hill. They claimed that they were going to use their winnings to pay for their grandaughters’, nieces’, and nephews’ college educations, although surely they had plenty of money left over even after setting all that aside. Interestingly, a year after the jackpot and it’s Missouri winners were publicized, there was a phishing scam perpetrated through e-mails claiming to be from the Hill’s that phished bank account numbers from victims by claiming that they were going to share some of their Powerball winnings. This kind of negative attention is the reason that many winners choose to go unpublicized.
5. $590,500,000
The fifth-largest jackpot of all time was approximately $590,500,000 on May 18, 2013. This jackpot had one winning ticket that was purchased in Florida by one Gloria MacKenzie. She would have been able to receive approximately $370,900,000 in cash.
4. $687,800,000
The fourth-largest jackpot of all time was approximately $687,800,000 million on October 27, 2018. This jackpot had two winning tickets that were purchased in New York and Iowa. Each winner would have been able to receive approximately $198,100,000 in cash.
The New York winner was publicized as Robert Bailey and he claimed that he was going to use his winning to “…continue playing [his] numbers until this train runs out!” Okay…
The Iowa winner was publicized as Lerynne West. West used the money to both start a charity and retire into a life of modest luxury. It sounds like she had her priorities a little more organized than Mr. Bailey.
3. $758,700,000
The third-largest jackpot of all time was approximately $758,700,000 on August 23, 2017. This jackpot had one winning ticket that had been purchased in Massachusetts by Mavis Wanczyk. She would have been able to receive approximately $480,500,000 in cash.
2. $768,400,000
The second-largest jackpot of all time was approximately $768,400,000 on March 27, 2019. This jackpot had one winning ticket that had been purchased in Wisconsin. The winner would have been able to receive approximately $477,000,000 in cash
1. $1,586,000,000.
Now, the single largest jackpot of all time was approximately $1,586,000,000. This jackpot had three winning tickets that were purchased in Florida, California, and Tennessee. Each winner would have been able to receive approximately $327,800,000 in cash.
None of the winners’ names were publicized, but the Florida and California winners did make public statements. The Florida winner told a story about how she had used the same numbers for several years before winning. The California winners said they did not want to be public figures because of their win and were choosing to donate most of the money that they were going to receive to charity. We hope you are the next Powerball winner!