A popular new option is about to be added to the Powerball® game here in Iowa. It will give you the chance to play – and win – with the same set of numbers in two drawings rather than just one.
Beginning on Sunday, the Double Play® option will be available as part of Powerball in Iowa.
For an extra $1 per play, you can add Double Play to your tickets. (A Powerball play costs $2, and with the Double Play option added, a ticket will cost $3.) The numbers on your ticket will then be eligible to win twice – once in the regular Powerball drawing, and once in a separate Double Play drawing with a top cash prize of $10 million.
You could win a prize in the regular Powerball drawing AND the Double Play drawing on the same night!
Of the 48 lotteries that sell Powerball, 19 already offer Double Play. Iowa will be the 20th to add it, and the move comes after players in our state said they wanted the chance to be part of the Double Play drawings.
Here’s how Double Play works: If you add Double Play to your ticket, your numbers will be used for the Powerball drawing and the Double Play drawing.
Double Play has the same odds of winning as Powerball. But while Powerball has a rolling jackpot, Double Play has a fixed top cash prize of $10 million.
In both drawings, five winning numbers are selected from the main pool of 1-69. In Powerball, the drawing balls for those numbers are white; in Double Play, they’re black. And in both drawings, one red Powerball number is selected from a pool of 1-26.
To win the top prize in either drawing, your ticket has to match all six winning numbers. But there are eight other ways to win in each drawing, starting with a prize for matching just the Powerball alone.
The Double Play drawing is held after every Powerball drawing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. When the option goes live here, we’ll report the winning numbers for the Powerball and Double Play drawing on each of those nights.
The first Double Play drawing that includes Iowa will be on Monday (Nov. 6).
And for Power Play® fans, don’t worry! It will continue to be offered in Powerball and it’s not changing.
You can add both the Power Play and Double Play options to you ticket, and if you do that, your Powerball play will cost $4.
While Power Play multiplies Powerball winnings at all prize levels except the jackpot, it does not apply to Double Play winnings.
