Refresher About Powerball's Match 5 Bonus System

One of our blog readers sent us a great question about Powerball's Match 5 Bonus system and it's giving me the chance to give everyone a refresher course on that system and the winnings it can bring.

The Match 5 Bonus system was added to Powerball in 2002. The idea behind the change was to give more people a chance to take home big winnings in Powerball. The system already has been used a couple times and it will kick in again when the Powerball jackpot gets into record territory!

Here's how it works: When the Powerball jackpot rolls into record territory, it only grows by $25 million between drawings until it is won. The rest of the money that normally would go to the jackpot goes instead into a separate "bonus pool." That bonus pool also keeps growing until the jackpot is won. Once that happens, the bonus pool is divided amongst the players in that drawing who won Powerball's second prize by matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball. That prize normally is $200,000, and any share of the Bonus Pool money is added to that.

Now, if you're a Powerball aficionado, you know that if you add the Power Play option to your ticket and you match the first five numbers, your prize is multiplied to $1 million. So in those cases, any share of the Bonus Pool money would be added to the $1 million. We're talking serious prize money at that point!

The Match 5 Bonus system has meant significant winnings for some Iowa Lottery players. In October 2005, a Hiawatha woman won $853,492 with the Bonus system. And in February 2006, a group of 20 co-workers at a Clinton medical laboratory split a $667,142 Match 5 Bonus prize.

The record Powerball jackpot currently is $365 million. It was won in February 2006 by eight co-workers at a Nebraska meatpacking plant. The jackpot will need to top $365 million before the Match 5 Bonus system will kick in again. So, I guess we all can say, "Roll, baby, roll!" when it comes to the Powerball jackpot!

Comments

[Mary]

Hi, DJ! Another great question about the Match 5 Bonus system in Powerball. Under your hypothetical, if the Powerball jackpot were at $335 million for one drawing, it would continue to grow by whatever amount was determined by sales in the game until the drawing when it topped $365 million, the current record for Powerball jackpots. At that point, the Match 5 Bonus system would kick in and the jackpot would “only” grow by $25 million between drawings, with the remainder of the money that normally would have gone to the jackpot going instead into the bonus pool. I can’t predict for sure how much the jackpot may grow between drawings when the Match 5 Bonus system isn’t in effect – that’s all determined by tickets sales!

[djdaveyjones]

Say, for example, the jackpot rolls over with a $335 million jackpot. Then does the next jackpot cap out at $390 million, or, since the pot hasn't reached the official limit during the previous cycle would it go to the maximum determined by sales, and then start raising by $25 million after the jackpot breaches the record level without the "match 5 rule" being activated? For instance, let's say, would the pot after $335 million be $420 million or $390 million?