Powerball Lottery
Unbelievable prizes, astounding numbers games and winners for eternity. This is the US Powerball. In America lotto is not only a game – it’s a lifestyle for becoming more than just a millionaire.
The Powerball US Lottery finds its origin in 1992, when the Multi-State Lottery Association of America renamed itself from «Lotto America» to «Powerball» with its first draw being played on April 19th.
Drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evening at 10:59 pm (ET), which means that the results will be shown Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings at 8:29 am (IST) in India.
Next to being the most famous lottery in the world, it is also the one to first introduce the double-drum game to the universe of lotto and its followers. Within this approach, the idea of using two drums filled with balls instead of one was formed. Later this approach was taken by other big lotteries, such as EuroJackpot and Euromillions.
This way it became possible to allow lottery players higher jackpots, different price levels and also bigger odds of winning even a little something.
The US Powerball offers the largest prizes out of all in the world and holds the record of the largest jackpot ever won since the rollover caps were removed: $1.5 Billion.
Rules and Requirements
- The minimum age for participating is 18 years in most states. People in Nebraska need to be 19 years old, while in Arizona, Iowa and Louisiana the legal age is set to 21. People from India need to follow their state’s age requirements;
- Draws are made every Saturday, Wednesday and Monday at 10:59 pm (ET);
- Each play costs $2, or $3 for the Power Play option. If you play online a ticket costs $4-$5 for each game;
- People who want to join the US Powerball via a play slip from a retailer need to make sure that the state they’re from is one of the 45 participating ones in the American lotto game. The great variety of online lotteries make it possible for players from all over the world to participate in the US Powerball, too;
- The Jackpot minimum is set to $20 million. Every time the jackpot is not won, a rollover will happen and the amount will be added to the next week’s draw. There is no limit for rollovers to happen, therefore possible winnings can reach up to billions.
How to Play US Powerball
The player can select 5 numbers between 1 and 69 in the white ball section, and 1 number between 1 and 26 in the red ball section (this one is also known as the «Powerball»).
The participant can also decide if he wants to choose those digits by himself or be given numbers that are randomly generated.
During the draw, 5 white balls and 1 red ball are randomly selected. If the numbers you picked beforehand match the ones drawn, you win the jackpot.
There are other prizes to be won if you match less than that. These are scaling down number by number and can be found in the section «Odds and Prizes».
Power Play
If the person decides to go with the Power Play option for +1$, winnings can be multiplied by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x and even 10x! Which multiplier is used will be decided by rolling the dice before every draw.
| Numbers Matched | Base Winnings | X2 Multiplier | X3 Multiplier | X4 Multiplier | X5 Multiplier | X10 Multiplier |
| Odds of Multiplier | – | 1 in 1.79 | 1 in 3.23 | 1 in 14.33 | 1 in 21.5 | 1 in 43 |
| 5 plus the Powerball | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot |
| 5 | $1 million | $2 million | $2 million | $2 million | $2 million | $2 million |
| 4 plus the Powerball | $50,000 | $100,000 | $150,000 | $200,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 |
| 4 | $100 | $200 | $300 | $400 | $500 | $1000 |
| 3 plus the Powerball | $100 | $200 | $300 | $400 | $500 | $1000 |
| 3 | $7 | $14 | $21 | $28 | $35 | $70 |
| 2 plus the Powerball | $7 | $14 | $21 | $28 | $35 | $70 |
| 1 plus the powerball | $4 | $8 | $12 | $16 | $20 | $40 |
| Powerball alone | $4 | $8 | $12 | $16 | $20 | $40 |
Live draw
How to play USA Powerball from India?
Visit the US
One of the simplest ways to play the US Powerball lottery is to visit its country of origin: The United States. May it be your next vacation or you already had the thought of moving there – Playing lotto can be very simple this way. In the US you can buy tickets from the closest retail shop to your accommodation and join millions of people for the most popular game in the world. Tickets there are only $2 and therefore cheaper than on the internet.
Play through a lotto messenger service
You can also buy the lotto Powerball tickets via a so-called «lottery messenger service». This way you can do everything online from your own home while someone else takes care of your tickets. So even if you’re located in India at the moment there’s no reason why you can’t play! One of the best and easiest to use out of all the messenger services is TheLotter, in India also known as Lottosmile.
Bet online
Sites like Lottoland, Lotto247, and Playhugelottos are online lotto platforms on which you can bet on the US Powerball as well. As they are no object to any government in particular you can play them from India, too, and don’t have to worry about legalizations. All you need to do is summarized here:
- Sign up on one of the websites of a lottery ticket seller and input your personal data. Here it is really important to name your email address, as this will be used for notifications in case of winnings.
- Choose how many tickets you’d like to purchase and select the numbers you want to play with. If you don’t want to choose them by yourself you can also get them randomly selected by the number generator on the website. You can pay for the tickets via credit card.
- Decide on which games you want to bet.
- Wait for the draw to be made. You can also follow the game online on our website or on the official US Powerball website.
- In case you win anything, the money will be managed and transferred to your online account on the website.
How People from India can claim their winnings
If a person from outside the US wins, they can claim their prize the same way a US citizen would do it. Still, there are different ways how people from India can get access to their money:
For the people who live in the USA and play offline
If you’re living in the USA you’re given a certain time between 90 days and 1 year to claim your winnings. Depending on the amount of money you earned from the game, there are three ways to collect the price:
- Get your money from the lottery retailer where you bought your tickets from if the price doesn’t exceed the amount of $600.
- For winnings over $600 you will need to submit a claims form by mail to the regional claims center. You also can do so by visiting the authorized office in person.
- If you were lucky enough to win the US Powerball jackpot it is necessary to contact the state lottery office and claim the money personally.
Tourists who are visiting the USA
Even though you’re not an American resident living in the USA you’re given the same amount of time to claim your price as normal residents do (90 days to 1 year). Here you can choose between the claim by mail or in person. In case you don’t have the chance to get access to your winnings before you leave the country you can also nominate a third party to have the ability to get your money.
Indians can use certified apps and online stores
If you decide to play the US Powerball through an online lottery, such as TheLotter, Lottoland or PlayHugelottos, the money will be transferred to your account on these websites. You will be notified about any winnings through your email address.
For jackpot winners who are not residing in the US it is important to know that you can only claim the prize in the USA and this only in person.
Odds and Prizes
Americans are known for being a loving lottery nation and therefore the odds of winning the US Powerball are 1:292,201,388. At first sight this might seem like an impossible-to-win situation, but when you compare this to other lotteries played around the world, it doesn’t seem that crazy.
The odds for playing Mega Millions, for example, are 1:302,575,350, which is still half of the chance of winning in Italian lotteries.
The good thing is, even if you only qualify for the second price-tier, which amounts to $1 million, the odds are 1:11,688,054, which is a very generous chance for everyone who wants to be a millionaire.
Below you can find a table with lotto money to be won and its odds of winning.
| Numbers Matched | Odds Of Winning | Prize Money |
| 5 plus the Powerball | 1 in 292,201,338 | Jackpot |
| 5 | 1 in 11,688,054 | $1 million |
| 4 plus the Powerball | 1 in 913,130 | $50,000 |
| 4 | 1 in 36,525 | $100.00 |
| 3 plus the Powerball | 1 in 14,494 | $100.00 |
| 3 | 1 in 580 | $7.00 |
| 2 plus the Powerball | 1 in 701 | $7.00 |
| 1 plus the Powerball | 1 in 92 | $4.00 |
| Powerball alone | 1 in 38 | $4.00 |
The Payout
If you were the lucky one and are now the proud owner of the Powerball jackpot, the next thing you should think about is the payout. When it comes to receiving the money you won in your last game, you can choose between two options for the payout:
Lump Sum
If you choose the Lump Sum, you will receive the winnings immediately and within two partial payments. The first division is the money which was earned through ticket sales for this particular game. The second one comes out of the profit of the following week’s game.
Summarized this means that with the Lump Sum option you receive the money all at once soon after the game.
This can be very fortunate if you’re thinking of investing parts of the money into something bigger for which you need access to the money immediately, like real estate and stocks.
Another advantage of choosing this option is that you will only be taxed once, as it all comes within one payment.
So everything that is left after the first expense is yours to keep. Here it is to be kept in mind that US taxes can go up to 30%, which will cost you a lot of your winnings depending on the current tax rates. So even if you might be happy about seeing big numbers in your bank account, you sometimes can end up with less than expected. Most of the time lotteries display jackpot amounts as they can be received when chosen as an annuity option. This means through the Lump Sum more money can be taken away from you.
Next to the Lump Sum there’s also a payout option called the annuity payment.
Annuity
Annuity Payments will be paid out to you over 20–30 years depending on the current regulations. This might sound like a big disadvantage at the beginning, but let’s look into it.
When choosing the annuity option, the full amount of the won jackpot will be paid out over the next 30 years. Parts of the money will be handed out to you immediately, while the other part will sit in a pot waiting for you. There it will grow 5% annually through associated profits, which means by the end of the annuity payment you can end up with more than the actual jackpot!
Annuity payments can also decrease the overall taxing in general. Only a small percentage of the jackpot will go into your bank account at a time and therefore less taxes (compared to the ones charged when you choose a Lump Sum) apply for this.
You can also have a chance of having to pay less taxes than expected if you’re lucky enough. Taxes are only calculated annually which means if they decrease within a year in the future you may pay less tax on your earnings than you actually had to.
Choosing between these two options depends on many factors, such as your age, your current financial situation, your ease of handling money and your purpose of spending this.
If you’re of the younger generation and intend to save money for the future, it is recommended to go with the annuity option. But if you know that you probably will never get the chance to receive all your winnings by the end of your own lifespan plus have the ability to handle money the right way, a Lump Sum is definitely the better option.
Taxes on Powerball
There are different types of tax possibilities for people from India when it comes to playing Powerball US. You can expect different taxes depending on how much winnings you made while playing US Powerball:
- Prizes <$600: no taxing;
- $600 – $5000: need to be reported to your federal income tax form;
- $5000<: money will be withheld for federal tax purposes (24% – 37%);
It mostly depends on the state you’re playing in, as the taxing can vary from place to place.
California and Florida for example do not tax lotto winnings at all. Pennsylvania charges only federal taxes, while New York adds a state tax of 8% on top of normal outlays. Some other states only charge you dividends and interest rates, such as Tennessee and New Hampshire.
Here you can find the complete overview:
| STATE | APPLICABLE TAX |
| ARIZONA | 5% for residents, 6% for non residents |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | No income tax |
| ARKANSAS | 7% |
| CALIFORNIA | No state tax |
| COLORADO | 4% |
| CONNECTICUT | 6.7% |
| DELAWARE | No state tax |
| FLORIDA | No income tax |
| GEORGIA | 6% |
| IDAHO | 7.8% |
| ILLINOIS | 5% |
| IOWA | 5% |
| KANSAS | 5% |
| INDIANA | 3.4% |
| KENTUCKY | 6% |
| LOUISIANA | 5% |
| MAINE | 5% |
| MARYLAND | 8.75% for residents, 7% for non residents |
| MASSACHUSETTS | 5% |
| MICHIGAN | 4.35% |
| MINNESOTA | 7.25% |
| MISSOURI | 4% |
| MONTANA | 6.9% |
| NEBRASKA | 5% |
| NEW JERSEY | 3% |
| NEW MEXICO | 6% |
| NEW YORK | 8.82% plus 3.648% for New York City or 0.897% for Yonkers |
| NORTH CAROLINA | 7% |
| NORTH DAKOTA | 3.99% |
| OHIO | 4% |
| OKLAHOMA | 4% |
| OREGON | 8% |
| PENNSYLVANIA | No state tax |
| RHODE ISLAND | 7% |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | 7% |
| SOUTH DAKOTA | No income tax |
| TENNESSEE | No income tax |
| TEXAS | No income tax |
| VERMONT | 6% |
| VIRGINIA | 4% |
| WASHINGTON | No income tax |
| WEST VIRGINIA | 6.5% |
| WISCONSIN | 7.75% |
| DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA | 8.5% |
As a non US-citizen you should bear in mind: A federal withholding amounts up to 30%. Depending on where you’re from, there also may be tax treaties between the US and your country which could be helpful in balancing whatever the tax liabilities in the US are.
The differences between Powerball and Mega Millions
Both Mega Millions lottery and Powerball lottery are currently available in the same 44 states. The two USA lotteries have both reached records high, respectively worth 1.6 billion and 1.568 billion. Quite a tempting reward especially when considering the minimum ticket price being only $2 for both the lotteries.
The two main differences between Mega Millions and Powerball are:
- Mega Millions’ extractions are based on 70 regular number balls instead of 69 like in Powerball. There are 25 red Mega numbers and 26 Powerball numbers to be selected.
- About your chances of winning big prizes at the two lotteries we estimate that the odds of scoring a jackpot at Mega Millions are little over 1:300 million. This number although is slightly different from playing Powerball where the odds are 1:292 million.
All of us usually have coins in the pocket that most of the time get lost between the seats of our car when we drive. Now, what if these small coins can buy you a chance to win hundreds of millions of dollars?
With lotto online this becomes possible. You can win an extraordinary jackpot for a little amount of money. Easy, affordable and fast – but the best part of this: It can simply change your life!
FAQ
Is it legal to play PowerBall from India?
Yes, it certainly is! As the draw is held outside of India, different laws apply here. Therefore there are no legal issues with the Indian lottery laws. People from anywhere in the world can join the online lottery for Powerball US.
What is the difference between PowerBall and MegaMillions?
The chances of winning the US Powerball are higher than when playing MegaMillions. You also have a different amount of numbers to select when choosing between those two. While Powerball plays with 69 white balls, MegaMillions chose to use 70 white balls for their game. There are also only 25 red balls available when it comes to choosing the «Powerball» in MegaMillions.
Where are live draws to watch?
You can easily watch Powerball live on our website and follow the draw in real time. If you have the Powerball lottery app, it is possible to check the results there or watch the game on the official website of the US lottery.
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