History of Powerball
Powerball the now famous American lottery game first began in 1988 under the name Lotto America. The name was later changed in 1992 to what we all know today as Powerball. The draw is held every Wednesday and Saturday night at 10.59 pm EST and a ticket costs $2 with a powerplay option for $3. The aim for a player is to match the five white ball numbers and the red Powerball to win the jackpot. A player can still win an amount at any time if they match the red Powerball number. There are nine different ways in which you can win the game other than the jackpot.
Powerball tickets are sold in 44 jurisdictions with California set to join in April 2013. Powerball was the first to introduce the system of picking numbers from a spinning ball. There are four identical machines from which two are randomly selected to obtain the winning numbers. This format has since been adopted by many other lottery games around the world however was pioneered by Powerball.
The Powerball drawings are broadcast live to a TV audience and eminent radio personality Mike Pace from Iowa has been the host since the Lotto America days. The drawings were also held remotely at the summer Olympics in Atlanta. Sam Arlem is the new host after drawings was moved from Universal studios in Orlando to Florida Lottery’s high-tech studio.
The 44 jurisdictions which now sell Powerball lottery tickets were added to the list gradually as the popularity of the game increased. To keep up with the changing time and to make things more interesting the game has witnessed a number of changes since its inception. The latest game change was on January 18th 2012 whereby jackpots begin at $40 million, Match 5 prize was changed to $1 Million cash and Power play prizes are now set dollar values. The price of each play was also increased to $2 per play and an additional $1 for Power play.
Over the years with increased popularity the game matrix has also changed which has lowered the odds of winning however has significantly increased the winning amount. This has truly changed the game in to a game of fortune where anybody and everybody has an equal chance of a win. The overall odds of winning a prize according to the present matrix are 1 in 31.85.
Cross sell expansion was allowed in 2010 prior to which each jurisdiction had to choose either from Powerball or Mega Millions. The agreement was signed on October 13 2009 allowing jurisdictions to cross sell. California is the only jurisdiction which sells Mega Millions and not Powerball however is set to begin selling Powerball tickets in April 2013.
Powerball has truly soared in popularity to turn into a weekly national event with players glued to their television on the day of drawings with the hope to win.
Powerball the now famous American lottery game first began in 1988 under the name Lotto America. The name was later changed in 1992 to what we all know today as Powerball. The draw is held every Wednesday and Saturday night at 10.59 pm EST and a ticket costs $2 with a powerplay option for $3. The aim for a player is to match the five white ball numbers and the red Powerball to win the jackpot. A player can still win an amount at any time if they match the red Powerball number. There are nine different ways in which you can win the game other than the jackpot.
Powerball tickets are sold in 44 jurisdictions with California set to join in April 2013. Powerball was the first to introduce the system of picking numbers from a spinning ball. There are four identical machines from which two are randomly selected to obtain the winning numbers. This format has since been adopted by many other lottery games around the world however was pioneered by Powerball.
The Powerball drawings are broadcast live to a TV audience and eminent radio personality Mike Pace from Iowa has been the host since the Lotto America days. The drawings were also held remotely at the summer Olympics in Atlanta. Sam Arlem is the new host after drawings was moved from Universal studios in Orlando to Florida Lottery’s high-tech studio.
The 44 jurisdictions which now sell Powerball lottery tickets were added to the list gradually as the popularity of the game increased. To keep up with the changing time and to make things more interesting the game has witnessed a number of changes since its inception. The latest game change was on January 18th 2012 whereby jackpots begin at $40 million, Match 5 prize was changed to $1 Million cash and Power play prizes are now set dollar values. The price of each play was also increased to $2 per play and an additional $1 for Power play.
Over the years with increased popularity the game matrix has also changed which has lowered the odds of winning however has significantly increased the winning amount. This has truly changed the game in to a game of fortune where anybody and everybody has an equal chance of a win. The overall odds of winning a prize according to the present matrix are 1 in 31.85.
Cross sell expansion was allowed in 2010 prior to which each jurisdiction had to choose either from Powerball or Mega Millions. The agreement was signed on October 13 2009 allowing jurisdictions to cross sell. California is the only jurisdiction which sells Mega Millions and not Powerball however is set to begin selling Powerball tickets in April 2013.
Powerball has truly soared in popularity to turn into a weekly national event with players glued to their television on the day of drawings with the hope to win.
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