When Is Jackpot Money Available After Drawing?

I’ve got to hand it to you as blog readers – you’re planning ahead to make sure you’re prepared to claim those Powerball jackpot winnings! We’ve heard from folks who have seen all the Powerball information we’ve posted here in our blog, but they’re taking it a step further and want to know just how quickly the jackpot winnings are available after they’ve been won in a drawing.

As you know, Powerball tickets are sold at thousands of locations in each of the jurisdictions where the game is played. That currently includes Iowa, 29 other states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. We carefully track sales leading up to a drawing so we know exactly what amount the jackpot will be and how much of the jackpot money will come from each jurisdiction.

After the drawing, the money has to be transferred into a central account and it takes about two weeks for that to happen. If a winner comes forward to claim the jackpot before then, we’ll make arrangements with them for them to claim the money as soon as it’s available. If you claim your prize after two weeks, the jackpot money (either the cash amount or the first of the annual payments, depending on which option you choose) can generally hit your account the next day.

So now you know, so you’ll be prepared to claim the jackpot when it’s your turn! 

Comments

[djdaveyjones]

I have o say, so far I have been checking this blog every other day or so and been rather disappointed in the content. This is the type of information that is like catnip to us Jackpot dreamers. Very few of us will ever win, so daydreaming in detail about our plans post-jackpot is the best part about playing. This is a good reason to wait two weeks to claim, get your money, and use it to help deal with the crushing amount of attention a big jackpot win is sure to elicit. While I am posing, I'll ask a question: Is PowerBall considering changing the idiotic rule about the jackpot only increasing by a set amount after the jackpot record has been breached? I know they did it in response to the whining idiots who claim they like to see more than one big winner after a jackpot is really high. However, if this was really the case for the majority of players then the games which feature lower overall odds would be drawing the type of bank that the run-up to a record PowerBall jackpot does. For example, if the Hot Lotto drew $50 million for a single drawing the odds indicate that their would be multiple winners sharing in that jackpot. The butt-heads that claim they would like to see more winners during a large jackpot run are just poor losers who are trying to obscure their whining with false altruism. The vast majority of players want that jackpot all to themselves, hence the real attraction of such a large jackpot. I know some say that is greedy, but is the truth. I for one am not afraid to admit it. If I wanted to see other people happy, I would give my money directly to them, not play the lottery. If the jackpot ever does approach record levels again, I can't see getting overly excited about it because of the cap. I am sure that most players don't know about the cap as it has only come into play the one time. But if you have multiple roll-overs with a raise of $20 million each time, you will have more players mad about that than you will about the prospect of a single winner. Not to mention you will be screwing yourselves over by not making quite as much money as an insanely large jackpot would surely garner. Change it and change it now. Just my thoughts on the situation anyways.