US Powerball Exposed — Record-breaking $2.04 Billion Jackpot!

US Powerball Review

It’s easy to understand the popularity of the US Powerball lottery with the prizes offered in their bi-weekly draws. The largest jackpot to date was in November 2022 at $2.04 BILLION. This is a rollover lottery that grows and grows fast! It began life in 1978 as “Lotto America” but evolved into its present form in 1992.

When Is the Powerball Drawing?

US Powerball involves picking five white balls between 1 and 69 and one red ball between 1 and 26. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 pm at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, two drums randomly select the winning numbers. The jackpot is shared among all people who have the winning numbers.

Currently, Powerball tickets can be purchased officially in 44 of the US states. The only 6 states where Powerball tickets CAN NOT be bought include Nevada, Alabama, Mississippi, Utah, Alaska, and Hawaii.

Power Play at US Powerball

There is also an additional choice of “Power Play,” which increases any winnings excluding the Jackpot (though you must have a red ball number to win that). This is where the sixth number comes in. You win any time you match the red Powerball. The price is $1 per ticket line in addition to the $1 ticket line price.

Hang on – More On Power Play

If a player does not opt to play “Power Play” at US Powerball, they are not eligible for the jackpot, so in reality, the actual cost of a ticket line is $3. Choose to pick only five numbers from the white ball section of the ticket, and the top prize is $1,000,000. Okay, that’s good money, but it’s irresistible not to pay the additional $1 and go for the big jackpot. Why not make it a standard part of the play and charge $3 per ticket line?

How Would You Like Your Winnings to be Paid?

The Powerball odds of winning and the prizes are presented in the table below. Still, here are some of the most interesting facts that you’re probably eager to get your hands on. This 5 of 69 game features a Powerball, which means that the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338. Powerball, however, is a lottery that comes with numerous ways to win. The overall odds of getting any awards are 1 in 24.87, which sounds a whole lot better.

Players have the choice of collecting their winnings for the jackpot over 29 years (annuity) or in a lump sum. The lump-sum payment is adjusted against the value of the investment of the annuity.

The biggest-ever lottery jackpot of $2.04 billion (!) fell on November 7, 2022. A single winning ticket was sold in Altadena, California. The lucky numbers were 10, 33, 41, 47, and 56. The Powerball number drawn was 10.

The second-biggest Powerball jackpot ever fell in mid-January 2016 (that’s right, a lucky start of the year for some!). It reached an unbelievable 1.56 billion dollars, and the amount will be split among the three winners. Each of the winners is to get about 533 million dollars before taxes. If the winners choose a lump sum payment, their millions will go down to 327.8. This particular draw was surrounded (naturally) by the biggest Powerball craze ever. More than 635 million tickets were sold, and more than 26 million of those tickets won some prize. 73 tickets won one million dollars.

On August 23, 2017, the third-biggest jackpot in U.S. history fell. Mavis Wanczyk, a 53-year-old Massachusetts hospital worker, won a $758.7 million jackpot. She used birthday dates to pick the numbers, and this tactic brought her the most prominent prize from a single lottery ticket in the USA’s history. Needless to say, Wanczyk chose a lump-sum payment of $480M ($336M after taxes) instead of annuity payments.

There are many other stories about impressive Powerball wins. In 2015, Julie Leach from Michigan hit the 310.5-million-dollar jackpot. It’s interesting to point out that Julie didn’t go for annuity payments. Instead, she decided to collect the entire jackpot, losing a significant portion because of taxes. The cash lump sum came up to 197.417 million dollars.

Another impressive sum was won in February 2015. There were three winning tickets for the February 11th drawing that had a jackpot of 564 million dollars. The three tickets were purchased in North Carolina, Puerto Rico, and Texas. All three of the winners chose to receive their money as a lump sum.

All prizes must be claimed in the state where the ticket was purchased. Prizes up to $600 are claimed at any retailer. Prizes over $600 can be claimed at a super retailer or at that state’s lottery office. Claim forms and addresses are available online with any of our approved lottery ticket sellers!

The players that own a winning ticket have 365 days to claim their prize. If the prize isn’t claimed within the period, the money will go to the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) and be allocated to good causes or charities.

People who play Powerball online will need to contact the respective online lottery agent to learn more about the possibilities of collecting the prize.

The following are the odds of winning the US Powerball:

Is Powerball a Scam? The Entity behind the Game

US Powerball is owned and operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by its member lotteries. These members are from different states in the USA. Each state keeps the profits from tickets purchased in that state to fund projects that each legislature approves. The game is played through 42 states (supposed to go to 45 by 2013).

Customer Support at US Powerball

US Powerball’s home site online only offers a snail mail address for MUSL. There is no other way to contact them. Clicking on support or the email emblem only opens up an FAQ. Their home site is an information site only – not somewhere to come and play. Most people would contact their local state lottery, where they would be purchasing their tickets through, to ask questions and find out more information, and many of these do offer email, online forms, and telephone numbers. Some even offer live chat!

So Whose Laws Apply to US Powerball?

It’s important to remember that US Powerball is governed by the state the ticket is purchased in. It also includes any taxes applicable, which differ from state to state. For overseas lottery ticket winners, a flat 30% tax is withheld above the state tax.

A Few Interesting Facts about Powerball

There are so many exciting facts about Powerball that it’s difficult to pick just a few.

For a start, did you know that certain states have a much higher number of Powerball winners than others? According to the experts, it’s pure coincidence, but you never know. Pennsylvania is one of those states with 16 jackpot winners. Over the past three years, there have been three jackpot winners from Missouri and three from Tennessee.

Nearly 75 percent of the big Powerball winners used randomly picked numbers. These are computer-generated tickets that select the numbers entirely at random. Experts advise individuals that want to use their own numbers on the ticket to spread them out among the possible options.

The numbers drawn most commonly in Powerball are 8, 14, 29, 39, and 54. The most common Powerballs are 7 and 17. Numbers in the range of the 60s aren’t picked that often, so you may want to reconsider your selections. Of all the Powerball numbers, the least picked one is 4.

And here’s a fun one to wrap things up. In March 2005, the Powerball drawing had an unprecedented amount of 110-second prize winners. These individuals split more than 19 million dollars between themselves. Powerball officials decided to investigate because of the impossibly big number of winners. They found out that all 110 of the winners used the numbers they found in a fortune cookie made by Wonton Food Inc. The factory printed out the six numbers, and five of those matched the official drawing.

A Final Say on Powerball Play Online

Powerball play online is possible through several online lottery agents or the Jackpocket lottery app. Obviously, one of the biggest and richest lotteries in the world attracts enthusiasts from across the globe. All of these people can play the Powerball lottery online. The trick is to choose the right agent.

Online lottery agents are websites that buy tickets on behalf of their clients. Each website has local representatives in the country offering a lottery. In the case of Powerball, an online agency will need to have a representative in the US. This individual buys tickets on behalf of the clients.

Once you play online Powerball, you’ll get a digital receipt and a copy of the ticket. Upon winning, you will either have the amount credited to your account, or you’ll have to collect in person from the US (for jackpots and larger prizes).

The trick to buying Powerball tickets online is finding the right agent. The company should be reputable, and well-established, and it should also have dozens of satisfied customers.

Why You Should Play US Powerball

Pros:

 Reputable and well regulated

Tri-weekly draws

 Fixed prizes, excluding the jackpot

It can be played online

Why You Shouldn’t Play US Powerball

Cons:

Understanding your state rules

Guessing the five white numbers and seeing the red would have been your sixth number – but you didn’t play Power Play!

Is US Powerball Legit?

Powerball is, without any doubt, a reputable lottery run by a professional organization that has been in business for a lot of years. It offers an opportunity to win big money, pretty good odds at least of winning something.

If you do choose to play online through one of the US Powerball agents, please make sure you review their rules and regulations, terms and conditions, and policies!