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Powerball Review |
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| Powerball is the largest lottery in the United States. Drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday. The following states offer Powerball: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia (technically not a state, but still offers Powerball), Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands (a commonwealth), Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Here’s some more information about Powerball. |
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History
Powerball is one of the longest running lotteries in the US. It started in 1988 under the name Lotto America. It was rebranded as Powerball in 1992. There was a brief movement to allow Powerball in the 12 states that offer MegaMillions (the second largest lottery in the US), but the movement failed.
The largest payout was $365 million in 2006.
How to Play
To win Powerball, players must guess five numbers (1 to 59) and one number (1 to 39). Tickets are widely available in the United States and can be purchased in participating states for $1 at gas stations, grocery stores and convenience stores.
Powerball also offers periodic promotions where players can multiply their non-jackpot winnings by as much as 10 times. In addition, Florida has a PowerPlay option that’s similar to the Megaplier offered by MegaMillions in Texas.
Odds
The overall odds of winning anything in Powerball are 1 in 35. While that doesn’t sound like great odds, it’s actually very juicy for a lottery game. Those odds are so good, in fact, that some players speculate that it’s possible to play Powerball with a positive expected value if the jackpot is high enough.
The easiest way to get paid in Powerball is to guess the Powerball number. Guessing the Powerball number guarantees a payment even a player doesn’t guess any other numbers right (odds are 1 in 67 and it pays $3). Players that miss the Powerball must guess three regular numbers correctly to get paid (odds are 1 in 359 and it pays $7). The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 195,249,054. |
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