Powerball jackpot hits $674m: what a UK winner would actually get

Has anyone won it yet?

Not yet. Nobody has matched all six numbers since the jackpot hit $600 million on Saturday 17 October, and it was last won in August.

The latest draw, on Saturday 24 October, came out 4, 5, 15, 19 and 55, with Powerball 19. In the UK, it took place early on Sunday morning. Wednesday’s numbers were 1, 21, 44, 50 and 57, with Powerball 5.

No UK ticket matched all 5 main numbers on Saturday either, so there’s still no new £1 million UK winner. The biggest UK prize was £54,623.10, for one ticket that matched 4 numbers and the Powerball.

For the draw on Monday 26 October, The National Lottery puts the UK jackpot at an estimated £363 million, paid over 30 years. Buy before 11:55pm on Monday to play.

The clocks have changed. UK clocks went back on Sunday 25 October, but US clocks don’t change until 1 November. So the draws on 26, 28 and 31 October happen just before 3am UK time instead of just before 4am. Our draw times guide has the details.

How it got to $600m

The Powerball jackpot for Saturday 17 October was an estimated $600 million. Nobody had matched all six numbers the Wednesday before, and it had been 26 draws since anyone won it.

UK players are in the same draw. For a UK winner, The National Lottery put that jackpot at an estimated £309 million, paid over 30 years.

Why is it £309m and not $600m?

It isn’t just the exchange rate.

The $600m figure in the US is the total of 30 years of payments before any tax comes off. The UK figure is what a winner here is expected to actually receive over the same 30 years, after the exchange rate and UK tax have been taken into account.

So the £309m is already an after-tax number. The National Lottery says the first payment isn’t taxed, but the annuity payments are, and the advertised figure allows for that.

Can a UK winner take a lump sum?

No. In the US, winners can take a smaller cash payment straight away. UK winners can’t. A UK Powerball jackpot is only paid over 30 years.

Spread evenly, £309m works out at roughly £10 million a year. The National Lottery says paying it this way means a winner gets more in total than they would from a one-off lump sum.

A few other things the official rules say:

• If a winner dies before all the payments are made, the rest is paid to their estate as a lump sum.
• You don’t have to go public. Publicity is your choice.
• If players in the US and the UK both match all six numbers, the jackpot is shared equally between them.

How to play from the UK

Our guide on how to play Powerball from the UK has the full prize list and draw times. The short version:

• Pick 5 numbers from 1 to 69 and a Powerball from 1 to 26, or use a Lucky Dip.
• Each line costs £4.
• Buy before 11:55pm on Saturday, online, in the app or in a shop.
• The draw happens in the US just before 3am UK time on Sunday morning this week, because UK clocks go back first. The results go up on the National Lottery website later that morning.

What are the odds?

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338. That doesn’t change however big the jackpot gets.

The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 14. Just matching the Powerball wins an estimated £11.90.

UK players have had more luck with the fixed £1 million prize for matching all 5 main numbers. Three UK tickets have won it since Powerball went on sale here in July, the latest on 13 October.

It’s still a very long shot, so only spend what you’d be happy to lose.

How big can it get?

There’s no cap. It keeps rolling over until someone wins.

The biggest Powerball jackpot ever was $2.04 billion in November 2022. One ticket won the lot, and you can read what happened to Edwin Castro after he won it.

You can see the latest numbers as soon as they’re out on our Powerball results page.

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