Powerball, a multi-state lottery game, regularly offers jackpots worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It set a new record for the largest lottery prize of all time when a California player won over $2 billion in November 2022.
The goal of the game is to match all five white balls and one red Powerball, which is drawn from a random pool, to win a jackpot. There are many other winning combinations, though, which can help you win smaller prizes as well.
You can buy tickets at gas stations, drugstores and grocery stores. The game is played in 45 states, as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands, and is not sold in Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada or Utah.
Buying a Powerball ticket is easy, and you can do it for as little as $2 per play. Generally, the game is divided into multiple sections called “boards” that each contain rows of multiple-choice style bubbles to fill in to select your numbers. You can also check a box to have the terminal pseudorandomly choose your numbers for you.
Your odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the Powerball website. The odds of winning a non-jackpot prize are even slimmer, at one in 254. In 2015, the lottery commission changed the game’s formula to decrease players’ odds of winning the jackpot.
The new formula increased the pool of white ball numbers available to select from 59 to 69, but decreased the pool of Powerball numbers from 35 to 26. In addition, it changed the way that winners are paid. The payout for a winning ticket is now an annuity (a fixed annual amount) or a cash lump sum payment.
If you win a Powerball jackpot, you can choose to have it paid as an annuity or in cash lump sum. This is a great choice for many people, especially those who can afford the tax bill. However, it is important to remember that the annuity will be worth less over time if federal interest rates increase during that period.
You can find out how much taxes you will owe after you win the Powerball jackpot with this calculator. You can also see how much money you’ll take home after taxes.
How to Play Powerball
To play the game, you select five white ball numbers from 1 to 69 and one red Powerball number from 1 to 26. The white ball numbers must be selected in ascending order, and the red ball number can be chosen any number from 1 to 26, but it cannot be the same as any of the white ball numbers.
After choosing your numbers, you can then choose a “Powerball Quick Pick” option at your retailer, which will have the terminal pseudorandomly select the numbers for you. This is a popular option for those who want to try their luck but aren’t sure what numbers to choose.
You can buy a Powerball ticket in any state or territory where it is legal to sell them, as long as you are over 18. The game is not available in Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah and Alabama. 파워볼사이트추천
