What is "powerball"

Powerball is an American lottery game offered by 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a nonprofit organization formed by an agreement with US lotteries. Powerball's minimum advertised jackpot is $40 million (annuity); Powerball's annuity is paid in 30 graduated installments; winners may choose cash instead.

Drawings are held Wed and Sat evenings at 10:59pm Eastern Time. Since Oct 7, 2015, the game has used a 5/69 (white balls) + 1/26 (Powerballs) matrix from which winning numbers are chosen, resulting in odds of 1 in 292,201,338 of winning a jackpot per play. Each play costs $2, or $3 with the Power Play option. (Originally, Powerball plays cost $1; when PowerPlay began, such games were $2.) The official cutoff for ticket sales is 10pm Eastern Time; some lotteries cut off sales earlier. The drawings are usually held at the Florida Lottery’s studio in Tallahassee.

On Jan 13, 2016, Powerball produced the largest lottery jackpot in history; the $1.586 billion jackpot was split by 3 tickets: in Chino Hills, California, in Munford, Tennessee, and in Melbourne Beach, Florida.

Powerball is a lottery operated by Tatts Group via its licensed subsidiaries including New South Wales Lotteries in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Tattersalls in Victoria and Tasmania, Golden Casket in Queensland, and South Australian Lotteries in South Australia. The Government owned Lotterywest operates the lottery in Western Australia.

The new Australian Powerball since March 2013 draws six regular numbers from one pool of 40, with the Powerball drawn from a separate pool of 20 numbers. The highest Australian Powerball jackpot was A$80 million in 2009. Most jackpot wins are not shared by multiple tickets. There are major differences between the Australian and American versions; in the US, a ticket automatically wins by matching the Powerball (the American game has 39 Powerballs) while in Australia a minimum of three numbers are needed being two regular numbers plus the Powerball. The American jackpot is annuitized (with a cash option) while Australians winners always collect in lump sum. American lottery prizes are taxable, whilst there are no taxes collected on Australian Powerball winners. Still another difference is that all Australian Powerball prizes are parimutuel, versus fixed prizes on American non-jackpot prizes.

The host of Australian Powerball drawings is Troy Ellis, with the draw broadcast on television when the Division 1 pool is at least $15 million.

The game was revamped on 1 March 2013; it will draw six regular numbers plus a Powerball. This will allow the introduction of an 8th Division (two main numbers plus the Powerball). Other changes include an increase of 10c per play, and the introduction of an option (QuickHit40) which will "wheel" the 40 Powerballs although not guaranteeing a prize.

Powerball may refer to:

• Powerball, a multi-state lottery game in the United States
• Powerball (Australia), a lottery operated in Australia
• Powerball (South Africa), a lottery operated in South Africa
• Powerball (video game), a game for the Sega Genesis
• An event on the sports competition show American Gladiators
• Engl Powerball, a guitar amplifier model made by Engl
• Powerball, a brand of gyroscopic exercise tool
• Powerball, a mode in the strategy shooting game GunBound
• Powerballing, alternate name for speedball (drug)
• Powerballin', a 2004 Chingy album

Powerball, known in Japan as , is a video game for the Sega Genesis released in 1991 from Namco Hometek. It was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on February 19, 2008, and in North America on March 24, 2008, at a cost of 800 Wii Points. This version is virtually identical to the original version. An enhanced remake of it was remade for Namco Anthology 1 for the PlayStation.