The current Powerball jackpot stands at an estimated $20 million.. The next draw for this jackpot will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 10.59 pm ET.
- Watch out for lottery scams! Hints and tips
- When is the next Powerball draw and where can you buy tickets?
The jackpot is now at $20 million with a cash value payout of $9.8 million.
Breaking News: A winning $2 billion Powerball ticket was sold in Los Angeles County, lottery officials said, at a gas station just north of Pasadena. The jackpot is the largest in U.S. history. //t.co/20EKMlDLUd
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 8, 2022
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338, so you’re more likely to win at a slot machine than of winning the grand prize. But, if you choose to play, what will you get for the more modest Powerball prizes?
How to play Powerball
When you play Powerball you need to choose six numbers from two separate pools for the drawing. Players choose five numbers between 1 and 69 for the white balls and one number for a red ball, or Powerball, from 1 to 26.
There are a total of nine ways to win a prize in Powerball, ranging from $4, recovering your initial $2 buy-in plus $2, to the jackpot. Players can increase their prize amounts by spending an extra $1 for the “PowerPlay” option to win two, three, four or even five times as much. However the PowerPlay only applies to non-jackpot prizes below $1 million. Any PowerPlay number doubles the $1 million prize.
- How much do you win if you get the red ball?
- What combinations do you need to win Powerball?
- What is Powerball Double Play?
- How many numbers do you need to win a prize in Powerball?
What are the nine prizes for the Powerball?
All states set the 2nd through 9th prizes at pre-determined amounts, except California, where all prize payouts are based on sales and the number of winners. The nine possible winning combinations are as follows, starting from the smallest, and thus the highest odds of winning.
The Powerball - $4
If your Powerball matches the one that is drawn you will get your $2 ticket purchase back and a couple bucks more, for a total of $4. The odds of your ticket matching only the Powerball is 1 in 38.
1 number plus the Powerball – still $4
If you choose one correct number plus the Powerball you’ll bring home $4 again. The odds more than double to a 1 in 91 chance.
2 numbers plus the Powerball - $7
If your ticket matches two numbers and the Powerball you’ll get $7 but the odds to get there begin to skyrocket to 1 in 701.
3 numbers - $7 again
The odds of getting three correct numbers are a bit better at 579 to 1, but you only take home another $7.
3 numbers plus the Powerball - $100
If you purchase a ticket that matches three numbers and the Powerball you’ll finally get back enough money to treat yourself or someone else to something special. The odds to get that $100 in your pocket jump to 1 in 14,494.
4 numbers - $100
The odds of buying a ticket containing four numbers without the Powerball almost double again to 36,525 to 1 chance, but the prize stays the same at $100.
4 numbers plus the Powerball - $50,000
Now the prize really climbs as do the odds for hitting four numbers plus the Powerball. If you can overcome the roughly 931,129 to 1 odds you’ll be able to take that holiday you’ve been putting off with the $50,000 prize or even a new car. You’re twice as lucky, or better said unlucky, to be hit by lightning at this point (500,000 to 1).
5 numbers - $1 million
To get the $1 million prize you’ll need to match the numbers on the five white balls drawn without the Powerball and beat the 11,688,053 to 1 odds.
Powerball jackpot – The whole lot
Everyone who plays the lottery, and many who don’t, think about the prospect of taking home the big prize, but what are the odds of it actually happening? The vast majority who do play will keep dreaming with the odds stacked seriously against them with just 292,201,338 to 1 shot of buying a ticket that matches all five numbers and the Powerball. It’s extremely more likely you will be struck by lightning (less 1,000,000 to 1).
CNN —
A lone winning ticket for the record $2.04 billion Powerball lottery jackpot was sold in Altadena, California, lottery officials said Tuesday, making the lucky ticket holder the winner of the largest lottery prize ever.
The ticket was sold at a Joe’s Service Center, the California Lottery said on Twitter. Results posted to Powerball.com similarly said there was one winner who matched all six numbers in California – the odds of which were 1 in 292.2 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.
The winning numbers, which were announced Tuesday morning after Monday night’s drawing was delayed, were 10-33-41-47-56 and the Powerball was 10, according to the association.
And while you likely weren’t the jackpot winner, lotteries are urging players to check their tickets on the chance you won one of the other – albeit smaller – prizes: Per the Multi-State Lottery Association, more than 11.2 million tickets won cash prizes totaling $98.1 million, including 22 tickets that won $1 million prizes for matching the five white numbers but not the Powerball.
The jackpot was a record $1.9 billion but grew to $2.04 billion by the time of the drawing, the association said in a statement, “making it the world’s largest lottery prize” – just as its organizers intended when they changed the odds in 2015.
In fact, the jackpot was so large that California lottery officials didn’t have the appropriate signage: At the gas station where the winning ticket was sold, just northeast of Los Angeles, they taped a “B” onto signs that read, “Millionaire made here,” so they would instead read, “Billionaire made here.”
The winner has yet to come forward, said Carolyn Becker, a spokesperson for the California lottery, adding, “Somebody is holding on to a very important piece of paper this morning.”
The ticket did, however, make one millionaire: Joseph Chahayed, the owner of the gas station, was awarded his own $1 million for being the retailer who sold the winning ticket.
Chahayed, who came to the US from Syria in 1980 with his wife and two children, told reporters he arrived at the gas station Tuesday morning to find California lottery officials waiting for him.
“They said, ‘Congratulations, your station sent a winner,’” he said, adding he hoped the winner lived in the neighborhood. The grandfather of 11 also said he was happy the lottery benefited California schools.
The announcement of a winnerTuesday came after officials delayed the drawing Monday night, due to what the Multi-State Lottery Association called a “technical issue.”
The association initially said overnight the delay was caused when one participating lottery needed more time to process its sales and play data, echoing an earlier statement by the California Lottery, which said one lottery needed additional time to complete the necessary security protocols.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Minnesota Lottery announced its sales verification system caused a processing delay, prompting the postponement of the drawing.
“The delay was necessary to confirm the Powerball drawing could be conducted securely and accurately,” the Minnesota Lottery release said. “At no time was the integrity of the process compromised.”
All 48 participating lotteries are required to submit their sales and plays before the winning numbers can be selected, the Multi-State Lottery Association said in a statement overnight. “Powerball has stringent security requirements to protect the integrity of the game and remains committed to holding a drawing that gives all players a fair chance to win,” the association said.
“Like the rest of America, Powerball is eager to hold its drawing for the world record jackpot,” the association said in a follow-up statement Tuesday morning before the drawing, “however, protecting the integrity of the draw is of upmost importance, even if that means a further delay,” the statement early Tuesday said, urging players to hold on to their tickets.
According to the Multi-State Lottery Association, Tuesday’s jackpot was hit on the 41st draw of the run, marking the sixth time the Powerball jackpot was hit in 2022. The last Powerball jackpot was won on August 3 in Pennsylvania.
The largest Powerball jackpot ever won was in January 2016, when three winners split a prize advertised at $1.586 billion. Each took their share of the cash value, which added up to $983.5 million.
Powerball draws take place every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.
Powerball is played by charging $2 per ticket and having players choose five white balls between the numbers 1 to 69 and a red Powerball from the numbers 1 to 26. If a player gets all six numbers correct, they win the massive jackpot.
The odds of winning the jackpot by matching all 5 numbers and the Powerball number are one in 292.2 million.
Prior to 2015, though, the white balls were numbered 1 to 59 and the Powerball was numbered 1 to 35. The change means that now gamblers have better odds of winning small prizes but worse odds of winning the jackpot, making it more likely that the big number will grow to record sizes.
CNN’s Stella Chan Jack Hannah, Nick Watt, Eric Levenson, Shawn Nottingham and Chris Isidore contributed to this report.