How to Play Powerball
For anyone who's played EuroMillions, the format for US (soon-to-be UK!) Powerball should be very familiar. It's what's known as a twin-matrix lottery, which simply means that there are two separate ball pools. Players must pick five main numbers from a pool of 1 to 69, and a Powerball number from 1 to 26. During the draw, five main numbers are chosen at random from the main number pool, as well as a Powerball number from a separate pool. Match as many numbers as you can to win bigger prizes – to win the jackpot, match all five main numbers plus the Powerball number!
The draws are performed using physical ball machines, not the computer Random Number Generator (RNG) systems used for many other American lottery draws.
Jackpots & Money Raised
The jackpot starts at $20 million (£14,985,000) and grows rapidly between draws with no jackpot cap. The biggest Powerball jackpot ever won was valued at $2.04 billion (£1,528,786,200) – over seven times bigger than the biggest ever EuroMillions jackpot. With the addition of the UK to the game, comparable to adding an extra Texas and California in terms of population, the jackpot will be growing even faster than before!
However, the jackpot value will not be a simple currency conversion from dollars to pounds. While the US jackpot is advertised in dollars, before tax, the UK jackpot will be advertised in pounds, post-tax. It is not yet clear how much this UK tax withholding will be worth, or where it will be going.
The money raised by UK Powerball for good causes will stay within the UK, so don't worry about UK lottery funds paying for programmes in America. This is how it already works in the states, with each states' ticket sales raised and spent entirely within that state. Of course, some money from every ticket sale goes into the jackpot pool, and whoever wins it gets the lot!
The Main Differences
Up until the 21st of July, Powerball has been entirely a national lottery, being only played in US states and jurisdictions: 45 states, plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands – the five remaining states do not have official state lotteries. Because each state has its own gambling laws, the game has evolved to be adaptable, but some big changes have been made to the rules for the UK version as part of its arrival. Here are the main changes…
Draw Days & Times
One of the most noticeable differences between the UK and the USA versions is ironically something that isn't changing at all: The draw times! Draws are held in Florida at 10:59 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, but that's 10:59 Eastern Time. In the UK, which is 4-5 hours ahead of ET, the results will be made available at 4:00 AM GMT on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.
Prize Categories
The prize categories available in UK Powerball are going to be very different to the US prizes. On average, it looks like UK players will be getting bigger payouts for the same wins, and even benefit from some bottom-tier prize categories that don't exist in the US version of the game. Another big difference is that while US Powerball has fixed prizes for each category, the UK will be using mostly pari-mutuel prizes that vary from draw-to-draw.
Ticket Cost
Powerball tickets cost $2 per play in the USA – equivalent to £1.50 at the time of writing – but will cost £4 for British players to purchase. This difference hasn't been explained explicitly, but we would expect it goes toward funding the improved UK prize tiers.
It could also potentially be compensating for the fact that UK prize winners would not have to pay any tax on their winnings, unlike US players who are taxed from 24% to 34% on their winnings, depending on which state they purchased their winning ticket in.
Jackpot Prize Payment
In the USA, jackpot winners are given the choice of receiving their prize as an annuity over 30 years, or taking a smaller amount upfront, known as the "cash option", which represents the amount of money in the MUSL's coffers (American equivalent of the National Lottery) which it would otherwise invest to fund the annuity payments.
Although nowadays the Cash Option tends to be more popular than the Annuity Option in the states, UK jackpot winners don't have access to this choice, and can only receive their prize as a 30-year annuity.
Optional Add-ons
There are a couple of optional add-ons for US Powerball tickets: Power Play, a prize multiplier, and Double Play, which enters your numbers into an additional 'second-chance' style draw. Neither of these add-ons will be available in the UK, although we don't see any reason for them not to be added in future.
Getting Involved
You don't necessarily need to wait until the 21st of July to take part in US Powerball- it's possible to enter online using a lottery betting service, even if you're outside of the USA! Visit the Tickets Page to find out more. The jackpot is currently at $416 million (£311,688,000), making it substantially bigger than any European lottery prize ever won. Very tempting! If by the 21st it still hasn't been won in the States, it would be approaching billion-dollar territory. Will you be playing?