Picking only numbers 1 through 31 doesn't lower your odds of winning, since every combination has an identical chance. It does raise your odds of sharing the jackpot, because so many players pick birthdays and calendar dates that those low numbers get chosen far more often than the higher ones on the 69-number wheel.
The game at a glance
5 of 69 + Powerball
Mon · Wed · Sat
United States
1 in 292,201,338
The same for every possible combination, including this one.
1 of 26
Powerball: you pick it yourself, drawn from a separate pool.
18+
Must be 18+ (21+ in some jurisdictions) to play Powerball.
Powerball, in brief
Powerball is a lottery drawing run jointly by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) on behalf of participating US states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. A single ticket costs a couple of dollars and asks a player to pick five numbers from 1 to 69, plus one Powerball number from 1 to 26 drawn from a separate machine.
Draws happen Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights. The jackpot resets to a fixed minimum any time it's won and then climbs draw by draw until someone matches all six numbers. Because the pool of tickets sold nationwide feeds a single prize, jackpots can grow for months when nobody hits the top tier.
Players can add Power Play for an extra cost, which multiplies most non-jackpot prizes by a factor drawn separately each night. It doesn't touch the jackpot itself, and it doesn't change your odds of matching numbers.
Prize tiers
5 numbers + PowerballJackpot
The jackpot, split evenly among all winning tickets and paid as an annuity or a reduced lump sum
5 numbers, no Powerball
A fixed $1,000,000
4 numbers + Powerball
A fixed $50,000
4 numbers, no Powerball
A few hundred dollars
3 numbers + Powerball
A few hundred dollars
3 numbers, no Powerball
A small fixed prize
2 numbers + Powerball
A small fixed prize
1 number + Powerball
A small fixed prize
Powerball only
The minimum fixed prize, roughly the cost of the ticket
Where Powerball came from
From Lotto America to Powerball
Powerball traces back to Lotto America, a multi-state game MUSL launched in 1988 to let smaller states offer jackpots that a single-state lottery couldn't fund alone. In April 1992 MUSL relaunched the game under the Powerball name, introducing the now-familiar structure of five main numbers plus a separate Powerball drawn from its own pool.
The 2015 matrix
The matrix, meaning how many numbers you pick and how large the pools are, has been widened several times since then. Each change lengthened the odds of hitting the jackpot, which is the mechanism that lets prizes climb into the hundreds of millions before someone wins. The current 5-from-69 plus 1-from-26 format took effect in October 2015 and hasn't changed since.
Where it's sold
Powerball is sold in every US state except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah, along with Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
Picking numbers, honestly
There's no such thing as a number being due. Each drawing pulls balls independently of every drawing before it, so a number that hasn't shown up in months carries exactly the same odds as one that hit last week.
The five main numbers and the Powerball come from two separate machines and two separate sets of balls, which is why the Powerball can repeat a number already drawn among the main five in the same draw.
Powerball — frequently asked
Matching just the Powerball number on its own wins the minimum prize. Anything more, one main number plus the Powerball and up, pays a larger fixed amount or the jackpot.
An optional add-on, bought for a little extra per ticket, that multiplies non-jackpot prizes by a number drawn separately each night. The jackpot itself isn't affected.
No. MUSL has widened the pools more than once since the game launched in 1992 to stretch out the odds and let jackpots grow larger. The 69/26 format has been in place since October 2015.
No. The numbers are drawn at random regardless of whether a machine or a person chose them, so a quick pick has exactly the same odds as any manually chosen combination.
No. Powerball tickets are sold only within participating US jurisdictions, and the game isn't available to purchase directly from abroad through official channels.