Powerball USA
Powerball is an American lottery game which is sold through various U.S. lotteries as a shared jackpot pool game. The draw is every Wednesday and Saturday taking place in Orlando, Florida. The forerunner to this Multi-State game was Lotto America which began in February 1988 and changed to its current name in April 1992.
This USA lottery game is co-ordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) a non-profit, government-benefit association formed by an agreement with its member lotteries. The MUSL is also owned and operated by its 32 participating state lotteries and manages the finances for each game. It also provides other games to its member lotteries including Hot Lotto, Wild Card2, 2by2 and Cashola. The state lottery retains all profits made which are used to fund projects approved by the state legislatures.
The draw is a combined large jackpot game and a cash game. Every Wednesday and Saturday night at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time, five white are drawn balls out of a drum with 59 balls and one red ball out of a drum with 39 red balls. Players win by matching one of the 9 Ways to Win. The jackpot (won by matching all five white balls in any order and the red PowerBall) is either an annuitized prize paid out over 29 years (30 payments) or a lump sum payment. Each ticket costs $1. If the winner chooses the annuity, the annual payment will be increased each year by the percentage set out in the Powerball game rules. The second prize (won by matching five white balls in any order) is $200,000 paid in cash and any time you match the red PowerBall, you win. The overall odds of winning a prize in the game are approximately 1 in 35.
Power Play is a special feature that allows a winner to multiply the original prize amount. Powerball players can multiply their Powerball prizes by 2, 3, 4 or 5 times (does not include the jackpot). The Match 5 prize with Power Play option will always be multiplied 5X’s for $1 million cash Note that any set prizes or Power Play prizes, including the Match 5+0 prize, may be reduced if wins exceed the available prize fund. The Power Play multiplier number is picked at random before each draw. A player must choose the Power Play option when they buy their Powerball ticket.
Now, however, you are able to choose your Power Ball numbers and purchase your tickets from online lottery ticket sales agents no matter where in the world you may be live. Great news for all those who live outside the U.S.A. and would like to take part in one of the world’s largest jackpot lotteries and guarantee their entry into the next big draw. You are also able to check the results online to see if you have become one of the lucky lottery winners. 
The following is a list of the U.S. States & Territories that are members of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) and take part in the Power Ball lottery along with the dates that they joined.
This 2 drum concept has since been copied by other lotteries around the world including Mega Millions in the U.S., Powerball in Australia and also the United Kingdom’s Thunderball and Euromillions. The matrix has changed periodically over the years going from 5/45 (1/45) to 5/49 (1/42) to 5/53 (1/42) to 5/55 (1/42) and now to its current format of 5/59 (1/39). The State that the draw takes place in has also altered over the years with the drawings historically taking place in West Des Moines, Iowa and moving recently to Orlando, Florida in January 2009. Draws are also occasionally arranged to take place at more remote locations such as the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The drawing is held at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time [9:59 Central; 8:59 p.m. Mountain; 7:59 p.m. Pacific] in Orlando, Florida. Occasionally, the multi-state lottery games go on the road and are drawn during special events around the nation, but most of the time the numbers are drawn at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The numbers are drawn in the presence of multi-state lottery draw officials, an independent auditor and a security official. The draw equipment is kept in a double-locked alarmed vault (we can't even get into it unless the auditors are present). The balls sets are also sealed by the auditors and all events are audio and video recorded when the vault is opened. The equipment is tested regularly (measurements, X-ray and statistical tests for non-random behavior). The live drawings are also open to the public. The whole process takes about two hours, so take a bite to eat.
The odds of winning the Jackpot are 1 in 195 million but the odds of winning a prize generally in the Powerball lottery are 1 in 35. The latest (2009) version of the game means that under normal conditions a 2nd prize ticket with PowerPlay will be guaranteed to be worth $1 million cash. The starting jackpot has recently been increased to £20 million. The largest of the Powerball jackpots happen once the game has seen at least 15 rollovers take place.
In October 2005 a record Jackpot of $340 million was won by 2 related families in Jacksonville, Oregon. They split the lottery prize among themselves. A man from West Virginia had the Power Ball winning numbers on Christmas day 2002 and claimed the biggest Jackpot to date of $314 million. Among other results worth mentioning is the Jackpot of $314 million won by a retired car worker from Ohio in August 2007. Statistical forecasts predict that the average Jackpot winnings have increased from $95 million to $141 million and that more than 3.5 million additional prizes are expected to be won each year.
If the Jackpot lottery winner chooses to receive an annuity as opposed to a lump sum, it would be paid to them in 30 payments over a 30 year period. The very minimum Jackpot prize would be $15 million and when this rolls over it increases by at least $5 million for each rollover. In terms of value, the lump sum payment that a Jackpot lottery winner would receive would generally be roughly half that of the annuity value that they would get paid in annual payments. In the vast majority of participating states Jackpot lottery winners do not have to make the choice as to whether they want to take the lump sum or the annuity until after they have made the claim for their prize. Once they have claimed, they normally have 60 days in which to make this decision. Prior to November 1997 they had to make that decision at the time they purchased their ticket.
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Historically, only resident citizens of any of the member states were allowed to purchase tickets for the Powerball lottery and these tickets had to be purchased within one of the participating states themsleves.
A single ticket won a record jackpot worth $365 million in Nebraska by a group of 8 food workers in February 2006. This still stands as the largest amount won on the Power Ball lotto.
Jackpot lottery winners have a choice in how they are able to receive their winnings. They can choose to have a single cash lump sum payment or an annuity prize.
