Get ready for an exciting change with Powerball

May 26, 2021 Posted by NC Lottery at 10:47 AM

Get ready for Mondays to be more fun.

Starting on Monday, Aug. 23, Powerball drawings will occur three times a week. You’ll still have the Powerball drawing on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but the game is giving you a third chance to win a life-changing jackpot every Monday night too.

That’s right — three times a week could be your chance to win that jackpot you’ve been dreaming of winning.

No other changes are planned. The jackpot will still start at $20 million. You’ll still have nine ways to win a prize. And the odds of winning those prizes, including the jackpot, will stay the same.

To prepare for the new game changes, we start after tonight’s Powerball drawing a multi-draw step-down to help with the addition of a third weekly drawing.

What exactly is a step-down? We’re glad you asked.

After tonight’s drawing, the number of multi-draw plays available will decrease by one until the third drawing starts. If you like to buy multi-draw tickets, this change will limit how many draws you can purchase at a time until Aug. 22.

For example: Before the Powerball drawing tonight, there will be 26 multi-draw plays available. However, after the drawing takes place, the number of available multi-draws will drop to 25 plays.

The chart below shows the step-down time frame and the number of multi-draws that remain before each drawing.

Wednesday, May 26: 26
Saturday, May 29: 25
Wednesday, June 2: 24
Saturday, June 5: 23
Wednesday, June 9: 22
Saturday, June 12: 21
Wednesday, June 16: 20
Saturday, June 19: 19
Wednesday, June 23: 18
Saturday, June 26: 17
Wednesday, June 30: 16
Saturday, July 3: 15
Wednesday, July 7: 14
Saturday, July 10: 13
Wednesday, July 14: 12
Saturday, July 17: 11
Wednesday, July 21: 10
Saturday, July 24: 9
Wednesday, July 28: 8
Saturday, July 31: 7
Wednesday, Aug. 4: 6
Saturday, Aug. 7: 5
Wednesday, Aug. 11: 4
Saturday, Aug. 14: 3
Wednesday, Aug. 18: 2
Saturday, Aug. 21: 1

Once the changes take place on August 22nd, 30 multi-draw plays will be available for purchase.

Here’s to more fun on Mondays.

17 COMMENTS

8/18/2022 11:27 - Dortha M.

How do the power ball combo. Draw worksNC Lottery
Hi, Dortha! Players have the option of adding Power Play to their ticket, which would multiply winnings by 2 to 10 times depending on the multiplier drawn! Players can also add Multidraw to play the same numbers for multiple consecutive drawings. You can read more about these options and how they work on our website here: https://nclottery.com/powerball-how-to-play. Hope this helps!

6/16/2021 07:22 - Eugene H.

This looks like another money grab--similar to the CASH5 Double Play draw. More money going out of folks pockets and very little return on their money.

5/28/2021 12:47 - MICHAEL B.

So with the Powerball change, the Jackpot will grow faster as well? Yes? Overall, looking forward to the change.NC Lottery
Hi Michael, great question! The Powerball jackpot grows according to ticket sales, so if the new schedule attracts more people to play then the jackpot will grow faster, but it is impossible to say for sure if this will be the case. It will be interesting to see!

5/27/2021 08:50 - Rudolph P.

Someone uploaded the instant game schedule for July instead of June.

5/27/2021 12:23 - William D.

correct me if i am wrong... But the increase of power ball to $2 went along with the 40 million starting jack pot.NC Lottery
Hi William, you are correct that these two changes happened at the same time back in 2012. The Multistate Lottery Association hasn't revealed any details about planned changes to the starting jackpot so unfortunately I'm unable to provide any details about that at this time. Sorry about that. I hope that you will enjoy the new changes coming to Powerball with drawings occurring three days a week.

5/27/2021 09:53 - Shawn S.

Did I miss it or was the information ever announced about the 2 winners in Charlotte that hit the last big cash 5 jackpot. All I recall hearing, is that the tickets were both purchased at a Cirle K (wink) and they were only like 10 miles apart (wink), but not about the winners.NC Lottery
Hi Shawn, thanks for the question. Here are the links to the blog stories about the two big Cash 5 winners from the Charlotte area: https://nclottery.com/NewsBlogDetails/2021/5/5/Mecklenburg-County-couple-to-use-1047527-Cash-5-win-to-buy-a-new-home, and https://nclottery.com/NewsBlogDetails/2021/4/26/Mecklenburg-County-woman-too-excited-to-sleep-after-winning-half-of-2dot1-million-Cash-5-jackpot.

5/27/2021 01:11 - coriante s.

So cash 5 that was 967,000 nobody hits it and it jumps to 1.2 million almost a 250,000 increase. Nobody hits it again and jumps to 1.4 million only a 200,000 increase and we all know the higher it goes the more people play. So nc lottery are you price gauging something fishy going explain. And trust I watch trends and increases this don’t make sense NC Lottery
Hi Coriante, thanks for the question. The amount that a Cash 5 jackpot increases by depends completely on ticket sales. If tickets sales are higher the jackpot will increase faster, but the minimum it will increase is $10,000 per draw. It is true that more people tend to buy tickets as the jackpot increases, but there are other factors that can also influence ticket sales such as marketing and promotions, the day of the week, the weather, and any other factor that might cause more or less people to visit a lottery retailer and play Cash 5. Thanks for the opportunity to explain some of the details of Cash 5 ticket sales and jackpot increases.

5/27/2021 12:02 - Toni T.

Could you once again explain the odd of a number hitting on the pick 3 I have played 414 for the past two years without a hit?NC Lottery
Hi Toni, that is a great question! Every combination has a 1 in 1,000 chance of being drawn in each and every Pick 3 drawing. This means that statistically, you would expect to see a particular number about once every 1,000 drawings.

5/26/2021 10:55 - Richard D.

I believe it would be fast gain and grow better than 2 days. 3 days in a week would be faster gain in jackpot. I guarantee there would break record in jackpot in future. wow, I know that.

5/26/2021 06:57 - Maurice S.

Awesome,looking forward to it.

5/26/2021 04:29 - coriante s.

Lol I get powerball trying to step there game up watching the mega million out shine then there jackpots have been higher first it was a billion then half billion. Being that the powerball is more popular they don’t want to take no chances. Nice marketing strategy by them they want all the money

5/26/2021 01:09 - Mary W.

Thanks!! You explain it so well !!! Exciting Change!!!

5/26/2021 12:52 - Thom B.

Odds of winning $500 on Pick 3 is 1 in 1000. Odds of winning $100 on Powerball...1 in 36,000!!! Powerball has the worst odds/prize payout ratio. So no thanks.

5/26/2021 12:25 - Larry H.

I think this is a good idea for everyone to win the win the jackpot good thanking

5/26/2021 12:09 - Hien N.

When it will to go back to start at $40 million?

5/26/2021 12:00 - William M.

When are the powerball and mega millions starting jackpots and incremental increases going to revert back to the pre pandemic amounts, which I believe was $40M for each?NC Lottery
Hi William, thanks for the question. Unfortunately I'm unable to provide an exact answer at this time because the decision is up to the Powerball and Mega Millions game developers and also relies on the progress that is made with COVID, including government and healthcare guidelines. Sorry about that.

5/26/2021 11:05 - Teresa S.

Okay, this will be fun... Could you tell me how many entries are in the Blooming Bills drawing for May? Thank you!! NC Lottery
Hi Teresa, I'm happy that you are looking forward to the changes coming to Powerball. At this time Blooming Bills has 7,024,577 entries. Good luck!

Progressive Jackpot Estimate

Win up to $1,000,000 every 4 minutes

Big Thrills Served Fast.

Get ready for an exciting change with Powerball

May 26, 2021 Posted by NC Lottery at 10:47 AM