A man named Dave just sent us an interesting question about the Power Play® option in the Powerball® game. Here is what he was wondering: “I see the multiplier 2 comes up a lot on the drawings as it did last night. How many 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 balls are in the drum?”
A lot of times, I know the answer to a lottery-related question off the top of my head. But I had to do a little research to find the details involved this time around. The answer can be found in the Powerball game rules. (I won’t make you read that whole document, I’ll just give you the specifics here.)
Remember that the Power Play option now has different numbers involved depending upon the jackpot amount in the game. When the jackpot for the next Powerball drawing is $150 million or less, a 10X is added to the Power Play pool, giving players the chance to multiply most prize levels by up to 10 times.
When the jackpot in the game is more than $150 million, the 10X feature isn’t available, so the multipliers that can be selected are 2X-5X.
When the 10X is included, there are 43 numbers in the Power Play pool. Of those 43 numbers, 24 of them are 2s, 13 are 3s, 3 are 4s, 2 are 5s and one of the numbers is a 10. Here’s what that looks like in table form:
43 Total Numbers In Power Play Pool
2X = 24
3X = 13
4X = 3
5X = 2
10X = 1
When the 10X isn’t included, there are 42 numbers in the Power Play pool, and the allocation at the other multiplier levels remains the same.
So, does it stand to reason that the Power Play number would come up more often as 2 or a 3? Yes. But the other multipliers also have a shot.
Thanks for the question, Dave! You ended up giving us a good Power Play refresher.
Hi, Derryl. It sounds like you are asking about the "Play 'Em All" feature in Powerball that allows you to buy 26 plays -- one for each of the numbers available in the Powerball pool. Play 'Em All is available in Iowa, but I don't think you can use it with the Power Play option, which is what I believe you were referencing. The Play 'Em All only generates easy-pick plays. The clerk will find the buttons for the Play 'Em All feature under the "Special Offers" tab in the upper right corner of the home screen on the lottery terminal.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | January 13, 2016 at 07:53 PM
i wanted to play all the power ball number with extra play. the clerk said they could not do that. Is it still in effect?
Posted by: derryl g. van dee | January 13, 2016 at 07:15 PM
Hi, Dennis. Great questions. The jackpot amount, as you know, has been going up just about every day, so the report that you saw may have been from a day or so ago. As I am writing this comment, the jackpot for Wednesday's world-record Powerball drawing is $1.5 billion annuity, $930 cash option. Both of those figures are the before-tax amounts. If you win the jackpot in Iowa and you are a U.S. resident, 25 percent federal withholding and 5 percent state withholding automatically apply to the prize amount you would receive. The Powerball game began in April 1992. Its predecessor was a game called LOTTO*America, which was played from February 1988 until that game was replaced by Powerball in April 1992.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | January 13, 2016 at 01:17 AM
WHO TV ch13 (when you were giving the JP as 1.4B) said that the cash option was 868M AFTER taxes. Was that correct or is that BEFORE taxes? Also when I was still working at a casino, our standard was Fed. with-holding of 25% and state of 5% are those the same as they use for the lottery? If I can ask another question, they mentioned that PB is 20yrs old. How long did Lotto America run and did the lottery ever have any other name(s)?
Posted by: Dennis R. Walker | January 12, 2016 at 06:19 PM
Hi, Mike. The Power Play number is selected using a random-number generator, while the Powerball numbers themselves are selected using ball-drawing machines.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | January 06, 2016 at 11:08 AM