How Do You Play The Powerball

Whenever the Powerball jackpot gets really big, tons of people start entering for the chance of winning hundreds of millions of dollars.

After all, about one in five people believe that the best way to get rich is to hit a lottery jackpot.

But does it make sense to play Powerball? There's no definitive answer to that question. But statisticians have devised a formula to help you determine whether the risk is worth the potential payoff.

To find out what that formula is and how it works, read the entertaining and informative article, Is Powerball a Mug's Game?

The Powerball Lottery is not available in Nevada, Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska, and Hawaii. To find out if you've won a Powerball prize, you need to check your numbers.

If you are contacted by someone telling you you've won a jackpot, you're probably dealing with a lottery scam. Many television stations broadcast the Powerball drawings live.

You can also check your local newspaper or Google for the results online. You can bring your ticket to a gas station, convenience store, or other location which sells tickets, to let them check your winnings for you.

Just be sure to sign your ticket first, to avoid being scammed out of a win. It's best to ask for the winning numbers and check yourself than to hand over your ticket and ask if you've won.

There are also lottery apps that make it easy to check winning numbers. Some will even notify you if the tickets you have purchased come up as winners.

A great way to play for keen lottery players to cover more numbers with more entries, allowing the chance at multiple division prizes — with the new Powerball offering 9 prize divisions, systems offer an opportunity to win more than one prize!

Netlotto also offers PowerHit systems, where that crucial last number, the Powerball, is guaranteed! For more information on the systems Netlotto offers for Powerball, please see the systems entries page.

Our Autoplay feature allows you to set up your favourite Powerball games and play them over a number of weeks or draws. This option automatically sends you your game tickets and receipts for the draws you are entered in.

We regularly offer Powerball syndicates - and when the jackpot rises, we launch creative and exciting syndicates to make it cheaper and easier to win your share of the dividends!

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How to play Powerball. CHOOSE HOW YOU PLAY You can play a marked entry, QuickPick, System, Pick, PowerHit, PowerHit System and PowerHit Pick entry.

Power Play is an add-on to the ticket price that increases your winnings for all non-jackpot prizes should you win. As of January , prizes for winning tickets with the Power Play add-on are subject to a 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x multiplier, selected at random before each drawing.

The Power Play option is unavailable in California because state laws require that lottery prizes be paid on a pari-mutuel basis.

Fill out your ticket. Though Powerball tickets will vary slightly from state to state, the basic method for filling a ticket out is the same everywhere.

On your ticket, you'll need to specify the numbers you want to bet on, the number of drawings you want, and whether or not you want the Power Play option.

Follow the guidelines below for filling out a basic ticket: [6] X Research source Fill in the spaces for five numbers from and one number from Usually, Powerball tickets are divided into multiple sections called "boards" which have rows of multiple-choice style bubbles to fill in to choose your numbers.

Indicate for each board whether you'd like the "Power Play" option. Each board except in California should have a space that allows you to buy a Power Play for your set of numbers.

For random numbers, fill in the QP space instead of your numbers. Choose how many drawings you want. Most tickets have a "Multidraw" section that allows you to pay for multiple drawings.

For instance, if you want to bet on your numbers for two back-to-back drawings, fill in the "2" space.

Each subsequent drawing costs as much as an additional ticket. If you make an error on any board, fill in the "VOID" space for that board.

Don't try to erase - instead, mark the board void and fill your numbers in on another board. When you're finished, pay for your ticket.

The clerk will calculate the price of your ticket based on how many boards and Power Plays you've selected. Alternatively, ask the clerk for a Quick Pick ticket.

If you don't wish to fill out a lengthy Powerball ticket by hand or you don't care which numbers you bet on, you can usually ask for a Quick Pick ticket instead of the normal Powerball ticket.

In this case, a computer will randomly choose your numbers for you as if you had filled in the "QP" space for a board on the normal ticket. If you win, collect your winnings.

Small prizes can be claimed directly from the vendor you bought the ticket from, while larger prizes require official verification.

The precise procedures for claiming large prizes differ from state to state - you may need to fill out a claim form, etc. Powerball tickets do expire.

The time window you have to claim a prize differs from state to state - from 90 days to a full year. If you can't make it to the vendor or lottery office for some reason for instance, if you've left the state you bought the ticket in , it's legal to mail your ticket to the state lottery office.

Powerball provides a map that links you to state lottery pages, which will have more specific information about claiming prizes in your state.

For jackpot prizes, choose a payout option. Congratulations, you won the jackpot! The only question remaining before you retire is this: how would you like your money?

Powerball jackpot winners have two options for receiving their cash - they can receive the entire prize at once in a lump sum , or they can receive it as an annuity - in other words, in yearly installments.

Alternatively, opt for a Quick Pick to have them randomly generated for you. You can purchase tickets without being a resident of the state in which you are playing, but you must be the minimum age to play, which varies by state.

Go to the Rules page to find out about the age restrictions in different states. You can buy tickets seven days a week until the cut-off time on the night of the drawings.

The cut-off time for ticket sales varies in each jurisdiction but is typically one to two hours before each draw. You can also enter several games on one ticket, giving you multiple chances of winning.

There is a section on your playslip where you can select how many draws you wish to enter. Just mark the relevant box to specify how many consecutive draws you would like to play.

The maximum number of draws you can enter in advance varies from state to state.