Updated

Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 18

Powerball Jackpot Climbs to $35 Million After $22 Million Drawing Finds No Winner

Updated

Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 18

Powerball Jackpot Climbs to $35 Million After $22 Million Drawing Finds No Winner

Q: With the $35M jackpot triggering the rare 10x multiplier rule, could your next ticket yield an unexpected massive fortune?

Yes—but only for non-jackpot prizes, and only if you pay extra for Power Play. Because Monday’s advertised Powerball jackpot is $35 million, it falls under the game rule that allows the rare 10x Power Play multiplier to be in the mix. That means a ticket with the $1 Power Play add-on could see eligible lower-tier winnings multiplied by 10 if 10x is drawn that night. A standard ticket still costs $2; adding Power Play makes it $3. The key limit is that the jackpot itself is never multiplied. If you match all five white balls and the Powerball, you win the advertised jackpot—an estimated $35 million annuity or $15.2 million cash before taxes—not $350 million. The Match 5 prize also has its own rule: with Power Play, it is fixed at $2 million, not subject to 10x. Where 10x can matter is in smaller prize tiers. For example, a $4 prize could become $40, and a $50,000 prize could become $500,000, if that prize tier is eligible and 10x is the multiplier drawn. But the odds of winning any prize do not improve; Power Play changes payout size, not your chances of matching numbers. So the “unexpected massive fortune” angle is real only in a limited sense: the 10x rule can sharply boost a non-jackpot win, but it will not inflate the top prize or make a win more likely.

Q: Thousands won smaller prizes while the jackpot rolled over; are you missing out on the secret Double Play second chance?

Yes—if your state offers it and you didn’t add it to your ticket, you are missing a separate second-chance drawing called Powerball Double Play. After Saturday’s main drawing produced no jackpot winner and the prize rolled to an estimated $35 million for Monday, thousands still won smaller prizes in the regular game. But Double Play is different: for an extra $1 per play, it enters the same numbers from your Powerball ticket into a second drawing held shortly after the main one, with a top prize of $10 million. Tickets with Double Play remain eligible for both drawings. For Aug. 15, the main winning numbers were 5, 8, 27, 29, 63 and Powerball 13. The Double Play numbers were 19, 21, 45, 46, 65 and Powerball 20. That means a player could lose the main draw and still win in Double Play, or vice versa. There are limits. Double Play is only sold in participating jurisdictions, so availability depends on where you buy your ticket. It also is not the same as Power Play. Power Play, also a $1 add-on, multiplies most non-jackpot prizes in the main drawing, but it does not apply to Double Play prizes. A standard Powerball ticket costs $2. With Double Play, it is $3. With both Power Play and Double Play, it is $4. Players should check their own state lottery or Powerball.com for availability, cutoff times and results.

Q: After a massive $786M payout earlier this month, what hidden state cutoff rules might prevent you from claiming Monday's prize?

Yes — the biggest “gotcha” is that Powerball ticket sales do not stay open until the 10:59 p.m. ET drawing, and the cutoff depends on where you buy. After the $786 million jackpot was hit on Aug. 5, Monday’s prize has climbed back to an estimated $35 million, but players can still miss out if they assume every state sells tickets until draw time. Powerball says sales typically stop one to two hours before the drawing, with some jurisdictions closing as early as 15 minutes before and others much earlier. That means a ticket bought too late is usually not invalid — it is entered for the next drawing instead, which could prevent you from claiming Monday’s jackpot if your numbers hit that night. Examples from participating states show how uneven the deadlines are. Michigan stops in-store and online sales at 9:45 p.m. on draw nights. Delaware and Washington, D.C., also cut off at 9:45 p.m. Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont close at 9:50 p.m. Indiana stops at 9:58 p.m., while New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina and West Virginia generally end at 9:59 p.m. New York, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia allow sales until about 10:00 p.m. In other time zones, local deadlines can feel even earlier relative to the national drawing, sometimes as early as 6:45 p.m. PT. The safest move is to check your state lottery site before waiting until the last minute.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 18

$35 million is the estimated Powerball jackpot for the Monday, Aug. 17 drawing, with a cash option of $15.2 million.
No ticket matched all six numbers in Saturday's $22 million drawing, pushing the top prize higher for the next game.
The Aug. 15 winning numbers were 5, 8, 27, 29, 63 and Powerball 13, with a 2x Power Play multiplier.
The next drawing is set for 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday; Powerball drawings run every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Tickets cost $2 per play, with the Power Play option adding $1 to multiply non-jackpot prizes.