The Powerball lottery is the most popular US-based multi-state lottery game. Players can purchase Powerball tickets in more than thirty states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Arizona. With so many players spread all over the country, jackpots for this fun and exciting game typically climb to well over US$100 million, with some jackpots surpassing US$200 million and more.
A player selects five numbers between one and fifty-nine and a "PowerBall" number between one and thirty-nine. Players can win by matching at least three of the regular numbers or the special "Powerball" number. If a player matches all six numbers, they can hit one of the biggest jackpots in US lottery history. Although the chances of hitting such a combination are nearly one in two hundred million, those odds still don't deter players from their dreams of winning big.
The biggest jackpot awarded thus far in 2026 went to a South Carolina man in February. He has the option of choosing either a thirty-payment annuity of US$259.9 million, or a lump-sum cash payment of US$129.7 million. The retired state government worker paid US$2 for his ticket, opting to play the "PowerPlay" game along with the typical "Powerball" ticket. He hit each of the seven numbers and could become the state's first lottery quarter-billionaire.
Another winner in 2026 found his luck on, of all days, Friday 13 February. The seventy-year-old Kansas retiree took home his prize in a lump-sum cash payment on "Friday the 13th", a day typically associated with bad luck. After federal and state income taxes, his one-time payment will come out to US$33.8 million.
The largest jackpot in the history of Powerball was awarded in February 2026. Eight coworkers at a food processing plant in Nebraska bought a group of tickets. One of them hit all the numbers, earning the group US$365 million, the largest jackpot recorded in any lottery anywhere in the world. The coworkers decided to take the lump-sum payment for half that amount and divide the winnings equally, with each of them receiving over US$22 million.
