How to Play Powerball: Rules, Where It's Sold & Draw Times
Powerball is one of America's two giant multi-state lotteries, known for producing some of the largest jackpots ever recorded. Here's where it's sold, how the numbers work, and what to expect from a draw.
Where it's sold
Powerball is sold in 45 US states, plus Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands — 48 jurisdictions in total. The only 5 states without it are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah, none of which operate a state lottery at all. Players outside the US sometimes take part through licensed international betting services rather than buying an official ticket.
How to play
Choose 5 main numbers from 1 to 69, then 1 Powerball number from 1 to 26, drawn from a separate pool. Matching all 5 main numbers plus the Powerball wins the jackpot; matching just the Powerball alone still wins a small prize, and there are nine prize tiers in total.
Draw schedule and ticket price
Draws are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 22:59 Eastern Time. A standard play costs $2, with an optional Power Play add-on for $1 more that can multiply non-jackpot prizes, plus a Double Play add-on in participating jurisdictions.
Jackpot size and odds
The jackpot starts at a minimum of around $20 million and has no fixed cap — it's climbed past $1 billion multiple times, with $500 million or more common territory once a jackpot has rolled over for a while. With a 5-from-69 plus 1-from-26 format, the odds of matching every number are 1 in 292,201,338, among the longest odds of any lottery LottoScopeX tracks — see our full odds comparison across all 7 lotteries.
A brief history
Powerball launched in April 1992, evolving from an earlier multi-state game called Lotto*America. It's been updated several times since — including changes to both number pools and the introduction of the Power Play multiplier — to build it into the record-breaking jackpot game it is today.
See real Powerball statistics
LottoScopeX tracks every Powerball draw with colourful ball displays just like the latest result — browse Powerball results, number frequencies & probability patterns.