The Powerball jackpot ticket sales exceeded expectations and as a result, the jackpot for the drawing on Oct. 26, Wednesday is now $700million the 5th largest in the game’s history. On Tuesday 25 Oct, Powerball announced the estimated jackpot for the next day’s drawing is worth $700 million, up from the $680 million prize that was announced earlier.
The jackpot jumped just hours after lottery officials announced no one won Monday’s $637million grand prize to the initial jackpot for Wednesday being estimated at $680 million. If the sales continue to exceed expectations, the jackpot can rise even higher but would need to exceed $731.1 million to become the 4th largest Powerball jackpot.
If you are not familiar with Powerball, it can be a little confusing. And you can go into an authorized retailer and have them pick your numbers for you, pay for your ticket, and be on your way, but where’s the fun in that? In this article, you will come to know about the rules of the game, where you can play, and what types of additional wagers you can make.
How to play Powerball
The Powerball is a multi-state lottery game which can be played in 45 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Players have to select five white numbers from 1-69 and a single gold number between 1-26.
Photo by: Justin Sullivan
To win the jackpot, you have to match all five white numbers and the red Powerball also. Players can also win prizes by matching a few as one white ball and the Powerball or you can win double your money back by just matching the Powerball.
A prize table can be found on the Powerball website.
How to buy the tickets
Each ticket has a set of numbers five white and one red. It costs $2, meaning 10 sets cost $20. You can also add the “Power Play multiplier” option by paying $1 extra per ticket which guarantees to multiply your winnings by double up to 10 times the amount that you win. It means if you win $7 it becomes $35 if you have played the multiplier and the 5x option comes up. The 10x multiplier is available only when the jackpot is less than $150million.
The Power Play multiplier does not apply to the grand prize, so you cannot multiply the jackpot. The multiplier does not apply to $1 million winners also, as no matter what the multiplier value is, a $1 million win will only be doubled to $2 million.
Photo by: Justin Sullivan
The Powerball also offers a Double Play option for an additional payment of $1. This game has a completely different set of numbers being drawn, but the numbers on your regular Powerball ticket stay the same. If the numbers on your regular Powerball ticket match the drawn Double Play numbers, then you can win up to $10 million.
Date and Time of Powerball drawings
The Powerball drawings always place at 11 p.m. EST every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
You can purchase the tickets for the drawing till 9:45 p.m. at more than 10,500 lottery retail locations in Michigan, and tickets can be purchased from gas stations, convenience stores, restaurants, and more.
How to buy tickets Online
If you don’t have time to make it to a retailer, you can also purchase tickets online from the Michigan Lottery website. For buying tickets online, you need to create an account, add your payment details, find the game you want to play, and buy the tickets.
To create your account on the website you need to click “register” near the top of the page. After that, you have to enter your email address, name, birth date, social security number, and other information that the state will use to verify your age/identity and help them to contact you in case of winning a large prize.
When you have created your account, then you can deposit money via credit/debit cards, online bank transfers, and more. The minimum deposit is $10.
As the money is in your account, you can find the Powerball game and the system will help you get your tickets. You can select your own set of special numbers or you can also use the autofill option and a set of computer-generated numbers will be selected for you.
After that, you can add these tickets to your cart, and then checkout, and your tickets will be stored in your account. The online option is very helpful in that if you win a smaller prize, the money comes right into your account and if you win a large prize, they will contact you to tell you that you’ve won big.
For the latest drown on Michigan Lottery, check out the official Michigan Lottery site.
