Powerball

Powerball is an American lottery game offered by 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a nonprofit organization formed by an agreement with U.S. lotteries. Powerball's minimum advertised jackpot is $40 million (annuity); Powerball's annuity is paid in 30 graduated installments; winners may choose cash instead.

Drawings are held Wednesday and Saturday evenings at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Since October 7, 2015, the game has used a 5/69 (white balls) + 1/26 (Powerballs) matrix from which winning numbers are chosen, resulting in odds of 1 in 292,201,338 of winning a jackpot per play. Each play costs $2, or $3 with the Power Play option. (Originally, Powerball plays cost $1; when PowerPlay began, such games were $2.) The official cutoff for ticket sales is 10 p.m. Eastern Time; some lotteries cut off sales earlier. The drawings are usually held at the Florida Lottery’s studio in Tallahassee.

On January 13, 2016, Powerball produced the largest lottery jackpot in history; the $1.586 billion jackpot was split by three tickets: in Chino Hills, California, in Munford, Tennessee, and in Melbourne Beach, Florida.

Powerball replaced Lotto*America in April 1992; Mega Millions replaced The Big Game 10 years later. 

For an additional $1 per game, a player may activate the Power Play option. Activating it multiplies lower-tier winnings (base prize $50,000 or less) by up to 5, or 10 when the jackpot is under $150 million. Power Play is drawn separate from the six numbers. The 5+0 prize is automatically doubled to $2 million if Power Play is activated.

The dilemma for players is whether to maximize the chance at the jackpot or increase lower-tier winnings.

Power Play, when it began in 2001, was drawn with a special wheel. In 2006 and 2007, MUSL replaced one of the 5× spaces on the Power Play wheel with a 10×. During each month-long promotion, MUSL guaranteed that there would be at least one drawing with a 10× multiplier. The promotion returned in 2008; the ball landed in the 10× space twice. After being absent in 2009, the 10× multiplier returned in May 2010 (after the Power Play drawing was changed to RNG.) The promotion was extended for the only time, as the 10× multiplier was not drawn until June 12. The second prize 5× guarantee continued; the 10× applied to all non-jackpot prizes, as in previous promotions.

Power Play′s success has led to similar multipliers in other games, most notably Megaplier, available through all Mega Millions members except California. The 2012 Powerball changes resulted in all eight lower-tier levels having "fixed" Power Play prizes.