Return Home
Click Here


Home >> Powerball: How to Play

Powerball gives you NINE ways to win eight different prizes. Jackpots
start at $20 million with a second prize of $200,000. With the exciting
Power Play add-on you can increase your winnings of up to $1 million.

  • Choose your own numbers on a playslip. Select five different numbers from 1 through 59, then select one Powerball number from 1 through 39.
  • Or you can play Easy Pick and let the computer choose your numbers.
  • Or you can use a combination of these play methods.
  • Each play (six numbers) costs $1.00.
  • The jackpot is pari-mutuel. All other prizes are fixed dollar amounts.
This is a demonstration only. To play Powerball for real, please visit a Virginia Lottery retailer.



Power Play® is an add-on feature that allows you to win more money by multiplying winners’ non-jackpot prizes by 2, 3, 4 or 5. When you buy a Powerball ticket and tell the clerk to add Power Play, you’ll pay $1 more per play. If you win when you have added Power Play, your non-jackpot prize is multiplied by the Power Play multiplier for that draw. Power Play increases your winnings up to $1,000,000.

If you add Power Play and then match five numbers without the PowerBall number, you would automatically win $1 million — guaranteed. (That’s $200,000 multiplied by 5, no matter WHAT the Power Play number is.) The Power Play number (2, 3, 4 or 5) is randomly drawn before each Powerball draw show and will NOT appear on your ticket.



Match all six numbers to win the Powerball jackpot. Check the chart here for all NINE ways to win a prize in Powerball. Click here to see a chart that includes the May 2010 10X promotion.

If more than one ticket matches all six numbers in a drawing, winners will share the jackpot. Jackpot winners will choose Annual payout or Cash Option when they claim their prize. Jackpot prizes are pari-mutuel. All other prizes are "fixed" prizes. If prize liability exceeds the prize-pool funding for fixed prizes, these prizes may be paid on a pari-mutuel basis and could be lower than these published prize levels. Refer to the official game rules for detailed explanation.





This feature will not occur very often. Any time the Powerball jackpot reaches a new record level, the jackpot may increase by no more than $25 million for each draw. The excess, if any, of what is required to fund the $25 million increase will be placed in a Match 5 Bonus prize pool and will accumulate until there is a jackpot winner.

When there is a jackpot winner, the Match 5 Bonus prize pool will be divided equally among all Match 5 prize winners for that draw and will be added to their Match 5 prizes. When there is a Match 5 Bonus, Powerball Match 5 winners would win $200,000 plus their share of the Match 5 Bonus prize; Powerball Match 5 winners with Power Play would win $1 million plus their share of the Match 5 Bonus prize.

The Match 5 Bonus is not multiplied. If there is no Match 5 winner when someone wins a record Powerball jackpot, then the Match 5 Bonus prize pool will be paid out to the Match 4+1 winners.



Powerball drawings are held Wednesday and Saturday at 11:00 p.m. On these days, the cut-off to buy tickets for that night's drawing is 10:00 p.m. Virginia's Powerball tickets cannot be canceled. All sales are final. Use a playslip to ensure that you pick the numbers you want. To play more than one drawing, mark the box on the playslip and tell the clerk how many drawings you want. Playing ahead will multiply your ticket price by that number of drawings.

Drawings are broadcast on TV stations listed below. Check your local listing for times or click here to see the latest drawings.

WAVY TV 10 -- Hampton Roads WJLA TV 7 -- Northern Virginia
WDBJ TV 7 -- Roanoke WFDC-TV -- Northern Virginia (Hispanic)
WHSV TV 3 -- Harrisonburg WKPT-TV 19 -- Tri-Cities (Bristol area)
WTVR TV 6 -- Richmond  



Jackpot winners choose how they want to accept their prize.

Annual Payout is your share of the advertised jackpot in 30 guaranteed annual payments. The Virginia Lottery invests the jackpot prize pool in U.S. Treasury Bonds over a 29-year period. The advertised jackpot is the estimated total amount of pre-tax winnings payable over 30 payments. (If a winner dies, his or her heirs will inherit these payments.)

Cash Option is your share of the Powerball jackpot prize pool in ONE payment. The value of the payment depends on how much money is received when the U.S. Treasury Bonds are sold. Cash Option is roughly half of the advertised annuitized jackpot.



Mark the OPTIONAL PLAYS box for any of the following. Playing more than one drawing increases the ticket price by the number of drawings you choose.

Multi-Draw: Play more than one drawing, including the next.

Future: Play one future drawing, excluding the next.

Repeat: Your play repeats for more than one ticket.



Because so many people play Powerball, jackpots will get higher more quickly. Powerball is played in 33 states plus Washington D.C. and the Virgin Islands. Play Powerball, It's America's Game!

Winning tickets bought in Virginia must be redeemed in Virginia.
Copyright 2010 Virginia Lottery All Rights Reserved. Please note that every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information on
this Web site. However, all claims will be paid based on the official game rules of the Virginia Lottery. If you have questions, please call:
804-692-7777 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Contact Us | Web Site Feedback | Privacy Policy | Forms Center | Problem Gambling | Report Online Fraud