When is the next Powerball drawing and where can you buy tickets?
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National lotteries have seen a lot of talk since the $1.33 billion mega millions winners last month. Now another lottery is making headlines, this time the Powerball. The current jackpot stands at $1 billionor $497.3 million in immediate cash value. It is now the second largest Powerball jackpot ever.
There have been 34 drawings in a row without a jackpot winner. One ticket sold in Florida won $2 million after their million-dollar second prize was doubled thanks to a Power Play ticket. Six other tickets that matched all five white ball numbers to win the $1million prize, one each in Maryland and Texas and two each in California and Michigan.
The Powerball jackpot for the next drawing will be held on Monday, 31 October.
How to play the Powerball lottery
The Powerball lottery starts with a jackpot of $20 million, just like the Mega Millions, and it increases every time a draw is made without a winner. Entrants must choose six numbers, including one Powerball, and must match all six to the numbers drawn that week.
Five of the number chosen must be between 1 and 69, and the sixth ‘Powerball’ number is between 1 and 26. The Powerball selection can be same as one of the first five numbers because the Powerball number is drawn from a separate pool.
You can pick up a Powerball ticket at any lottery retailer; you can locate your nearest sales point on the Lottery Places app. Each play typically costs $2, with an additional service fee for some online retailers.
Players can also choose to activate the Power Play feature for an extra $1 per ticket. Once added, a multiplier worth up to 10x is added to the jackpot, when the jackpot it $150 million or less. For full details on how the Power Play feature works, check out the guidance on USA Mega.
Powerball remains the largest jackpot ever won
Despite all the headlines generated by the massive Mega Millions drawing in recent weeks, the record for largest ever jackpot win in the US actually goes to Powerball. In January 2016 a jackpot worth $1.586 billion was split between three winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.
The most recent Mega Millions jackpot, reportedly landed by a lucky winner in Illinois in July, was worth an estimated $1.28 billion. It was only the fourth billion-dollar lottery jackpot in US history, and the second-largest top prize in the Mega Millions’ 20-year history.
