Multiplier, in full
The multiplier value is itself a draw. A separate ball or generator produces the factor for that night, and it is applied to whichever secondary prize a ticket wins. Power Play on US Powerball costs an extra dollar per line and draws from 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x and 10x, with the 10x available only when the advertised jackpot is $150 million or less. Mega Millions took a different route from the draw of 8 April 2025, folding a multiplier into every ticket at a $5 price.
The jackpot is never multiplied. That is the rule across the games that offer one, and it is the most common misunderstanding. The second tier is often handled by a special rule too rather than by the drawn factor: with Power Play active, the Powerball match-five prize of $1 million is set at $2 million whether the night's multiplier lands on 2x or 10x. Every other paying tier gets the drawn factor.
Whether the add-on is worth buying is an arithmetic question with a game-specific answer. The extra charge buys a larger expected return from the secondary tiers only, and nothing at all from the tier that dominates the advertised jackpot. Names vary by market, and add-ons called Plus or Extra elsewhere sometimes run a whole additional draw rather than multiplying prizes. Read the specific game rules before assuming.
- Lottery mechanics
- Power Play, Megaplier, Prize multiplier
A worked example
A Powerball ticket with Power Play matches four white balls and the red one, a tier that normally pays $50,000. If the night's multiplier is drawn as 3x, the prize becomes $150,000 for the extra $1 the add-on cost. If the same ticket had matched all five white balls without the red, the $1 million would become $2 million by the fixed doubling rule, not by the 3x.
Sources
Power Play costs an additional $1 per play and multiplies non-jackpot prizes by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x or 10x.
Powerball — official siteThe 10x Power Play multiplier is only in play when the advertised jackpot is $150 million or less, and the Match 5 prize is doubled from $1 million to $2 million when Power Play is bought.
Powerball — Prizes and odds chartMega Millions tickets cost $5 with a multiplier included in the price, applied to non-jackpot prizes from the 8 April 2025 drawing onwards.
Texas Lottery — Mega Millions game information
See also
Where it comes up on this site
Multiplier: frequently asked
No. It reaches the eight non-jackpot tiers and stops there. Match five is a special case even among those, since with Power Play the $1 million is set at $2 million by a fixed rule rather than by the factor drawn that night.
It buys extra expected value from the secondary tiers and none at all from the jackpot, so the answer moves with each game's prize table and its multiplier distribution. Since every ticket already carries negative expected value, the add-on cannot turn a losing bet into a winning one. What it changes is the size of the small wins, which for most players is the only kind they will ever collect.