Played in all states of America, with the exception of six states, the Powerball is a multi-state lottery. Ever since 1992, it became the first lottery game ever that uses two drums in order to draw the lucky winners. This is essentially how the name was given to the Powerball lottery. Every Wednesday and Saturday nights, people cling to their seats as the names are announces on television which is broadcasted live from the Universal Studios in Orlando. They are not just announced on television, but are also published online and in the newspapers. It is not guaranteed that a jackpot will be drawn in the first drawing since there are six numbers that need to be picked. People usually tend to buy more and more tickets towards the end as the chances of getting a larger combination of numbers increases. There are so many tickets that end up getting bought which is why a winner is inevitably drawn. The Powerball lotteries start at around $45 million and they keep growing by $10 million, every time a jackpot is not drawn. The largest Powerball ever that has been drawn is more than $1.5 billion. Now that you have your facts straight regarding the Powerball, find out more on how to play the Powerball right here.
How to Play the Powerball?
You already know that the Powerball is a two drum lottery which is why it is twice as exciting. There are 69 white balls in one drum, while the other holds only 26 red balls. There is only one red ball that will be drawn, which is the Powerball. Upon purchasing your ticket, you will choose 5 numbers which will be the white balls drawn from the first drum. And you will choose one red ball number which you will pray and hope is the Powerball number. You can either choose these numbers yourself or let the machine pick them through random number generation.
The numbers you have chosen need not be drawn in the same order; however, it is crucial that you guess the red ball correctly in order to win the jackpot. In order to win the Jackpot, you have to guess all the white balls and of course the red one. However, if you don’t guess the red ball but you get all the white ones correctly then you will be awarded around $1 million for it. The odds are definitely insane when it comes to the Powerball lottery, 1 in over almost 3 billion to be specific, but if you are feeling lucky simply go for it!
What is the PowerPlay option?
The PowerPlay option can be added on by paying the price of $1, which will essentially increase your winnings if you are able to guess one to five of the actual numbers. So what happens is that your prize will be multiplied by the amount of balls you have guessed correctly. However, if you manage to guess five or six balls, then the million-dollar prize will be increase to 2 million. Also, the PowerPlay option does not apply to the jackpot.
What is the cost of entering the Powerball lottery?
The basic Powerball cards will come at a small price of $2. And if you want to add on the PowerPlay option, you can get it for an extra dollar which will act as a multiplier for the number of balls you get right, only if they are between 1 and 5. Therefore, the total maximum cost of the Powerball ticket is $3.
Are there any tips to winning the lottery?
If you get a Powerball for every red ball possible, meaning if you get all 26 cards, then it is guaranteed that you will win the small prize of $4 dollars. However, this does increase your odds of getting some of the white balls correct too, which could lead to an increase to your total winnings. There isn’t a sure way if winning the Powerball because they are all based on random numbers. But you can do things to increase your chances such as pooling in with your family and friends. That will mean you will have to split the jackpot amongst yourself but you will have more chances of winning it this way.
While the odds may not be entirely in your favour, it is still exciting to enter in the Powerball lottery especially if your friends or family members are doing it with you too. It can be a fun activity to do on a Saturday, and even if you don’t end up winning anything you will still have made a good night out of it. If you buy the tickets with this thinking, then you won’t be as upset if you don’t end up winning.