Grab Your Powerball Ticket for a Chance at the World’s Largest Jackpots

Before you get yourself a Powerball ticket, it pays to know how to play the game. To play US Powerball, firstly you need to choose how many games you wish to play. There is no minimum amount of games; you can play just a single game if you prefer.

For each individual game you wish to play, there is a total of 69 main numbers (1 to 69) available and from these you must choose 5 numbers.

On top of the main numbers, there is a separate pool of 26 numbers (1 to 26). From these numbers you must choose one single Powerball number.

You can choose to either select all the game numbers yourself, or you can opt for randomly generated sets of numbers. If you wish, you can opt for a mixture by selecting some game numbers yourself and having the system randomly generate the rest. From a statistical point of view, it doesn’t matter how you choose your numbers; there are none that are more (or less) likely than any others to win.

You can also choose to buy the ‘Powerplay’ option for each game on your Powerball ticket. When you buy the Powerplay, if you win a prize in division 2, it will be multiplied by a factor of 2 times. If you win a prize in any divisions between division 3 and 9, that prize will be multiplied by a factor of between 2 times and 10 times, depending on which Powerplay multiplier is in play for that draw.

For those that play Powerball, there is the option to purchase entry in advance to multiple draws. This is called ‘Advance Play’. It gives players confidence that they won’t miss upcoming draws and it also means they don’t have to take the time and effort to enter each draw individually.

Powerball draws occur each Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 22:59 USA Eastern Time (this is Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday in Australia). Draws take place at the Florida Lottery in Tallahassee. Ticket sales for each draw generally end at 22:00 USA Eastern Time, although for some jurisdictions in the USA ticket sales end a little earlier.

In the majority of US jurisdictions you must be at least 18 years old to buy a US Powerball ticket, however in Nebraska you must be 19, and in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana and Mississippi you must be at least 21.

Australians are able to buy a Powerball ticket online, however it is strongly recommended that they are purchased through a reputable Australian website. Ideally, they should be Australian Government licensed and preferably Australian owned. The website through which you purchase your tickets should not purchase tickets on your behalf, such as lottery ‘messenger service’ websites.

Messenger services buy tickets in overseas lotteries on behalf of the player and the player themselves own the ticket. However, as it is requirement to be present in the USA in order to purchase a Powerball ticket, it is not recommended that players opt for this method. In addition, messenger services require that jackpot winners fly to the USA themselves to collect their own lottery winnings from the head office of the relevant state lottery.

To buy a physical (as opposed to online) Powerball ticket, you must be physically located within the United States, in a jurisdiction that sells them (not all US states participate in the US Powerball). People who are not residents of the USA are eligible to purchase a Powerball ticket while they are physically present within a USA jurisdiction that sells them.

When you play Powerball Australian, you’ll find it’s similar in some ways to the US version.

For each game you play, you must select 7 main numbers from a pool of 1 to 35. Additionally, you must also select 1 Powerball number from a different pool of numbers from 1 to 20.

As with US Powerball, you can select the numbers for each game yourself, or you have the ability to have them randomly generated for you. Again, there is no statistical advantage in choosing your own numbers over opting for randomly generated numbers.

You must purchase a minimum of 4 games when playing Australian Powerball; it’s not an option to only play 1, 2, or 3 games.

There is no Powerplay option when you are buying an Australian Powerball ticket meaning you don’t have the opportunity to multiply any prizes.

Instead, with the Australian Powerball you have the option of playing a System Entry. A System Entry lets you select more than the standard amount of numbers allowed in a single game. The system then generates all possible combinations of these numbers, resulting in a higher chance of winning. As they give you better chances of winning than a normal game, they are more expensive. For system entries, you can play between 8 and 20 numbers.

The more numbers you opt to play, the more it will cost. For example, playing 8 numbers is much cheaper than choosing to play 18 numbers, with a system 8 costing $9.70 and a system 18 costing $38,612.05 to play.

It is important to remember that the more numbers you choose, the higher your chances are of winning. You can play Powerball once each week, on Thursday nights.

If you wish to get a physical Powerball ticket, they can be purchased at one of many retailers Australia-wide.

You simply grab a slip at the retailer and fill it out with a pen; you select your own numbers for each game you wish to play and choose if you want to play a System Entry or a standard game.

You can also go straight to the cashier and ask for them to give you a ticket with randomly generated games numbers on it. You just need to tell them how many games you’d like.

Alternatively, you have the option of becoming a member. You’ll receive a card that you can save your numbers on. If you choose to go this way, your numbers can be saved to your account so that you can play them when you want without having to fill anything out; you just need to scan the card when you buy your games from a retailer.

You must be over 18 years of age to legally purchase a Powerball ticket in Australia.