USA Powerball rules and how to play
The USA Powerball has gained an impressive reputation globally for some of the biggest cash prize payouts in the world. Placing your fixed-odds bet on Powerball is simple.
From a number range of 1 to 69, choose your FIVE lucky numbers – this will constitute your “main ball” selection. In addition to these main balls, you will also need to select a single “bonus” Powerball number from 1 to 26.
Together, this makes up your ‘5+1’ combination – and your chance to win some of the world’s biggest cash prizes in one of the game’s nine prize tiers.
USA Powerball payouts and odds of winning
| Prize Tier | Correct Numbers | Odds of Winning |
|---|---|---|
| I | 5 Numbers and Powerball | 1 in 42,375,200 |
| II | 5 Numbers only | 1 in 2,230,274 |
| III | 4 Numbers and Powerball | 1 in 188,334 |
| IV | 4 Numbers only | 1 in 9,912 |
| V | 3 Numbers and Powerball | 1 in 4,280 |
| VI | 3 Numbers only | 1 in 225 |
| VII | 2 Numbers and Powerball | 1 in 299 |
| VIII | 1 Numbers and Powerball | 1 in 57 |
| IX | Powerball only | 1 in 35 |
Successful placement in ‘Tier 1’ will result in the main cash prize – and instant billionaire status! Payment values in the lower prize tiers vary with each draw, but there’s a way to still cash in big prizes, which we’ll tell you about in a moment.
Comparison: Is SA PowerBall better than the US PowerBall?
With so many South African lotto players trusting the internet more and placing more bets on international lotteries than usual, you might want to know exactly what your chances of winning are, when you spend your money and place your bet.
Here is a list of the differences between the US and SA PowerBall. Everything you need to know when you are undecided on which of the two PowerBall lotteries you should place your bet.
| SA Powerball | US Powerball | |
|---|---|---|
| Gane format | 5 numbers from 1 to 50 + 1 PowerBall from 1 to 20 | 5 numbers from 1 to 69 + 1 Powerball from 1 to 26 |
| Draw days | Tuesday and Friday | Wednesday and Saturday |
| Odds of winning the jackpot | 1 in 42,375,200 | 1 in 292,201,338 |
| Chances of winning anything | 1 in 36 | 1 in 25 |
| Biggest jackpot in history | R 232,131,750.69 | $ 11,586 billion (approx. R 23,6billion today) |
| Date of biggest jackpot | 19 February 2019 | 13 January 2016 |
| Number of jackpots won 2019 | 210 | 7 |
| Amount of jackpot pay-outs in 2019 | R 673,972,796.86 | $ 1,769million (approx. R 26billion) |
| Numbers drawn the most | 15 and PowerBall 3 | 23 and PowerBall 21 |
| Numbers drawn the least | 27 and PowerBall 19 | 35 and 58 and PowerBall 16 |
| When did it start | 2009 | 1992 |
| How much does a ticket cost | R 5 for a single line + R 2.50 for a PowerBall Plus ticket. | R 55 for a single line. R 55 + R 15 for a PowerPlay bet. |
When you play the US PowerBall, you have 19 more main numbers to choose from and 6 more numbers to choose from in the PowerBall selection. This means that your chances of winning the jackpot is much less when you bet on the US PowerBall. However, with so many number combinations you have a much higher chance of winning any prize with the US PowerBall.
From the information above we can conclude that with the US PowerBall you have a higher chance of winning any prize and that the prize money is much higher in comparison with the SA PowerBall.
