Powerball Tips

Powerball revolutionized and changed the structure of lottery games played in

the USA. By having five numbers chosen from one set of numbers and another
number chosen from a separate set of numbers, the odds are greatly increased in
spite of a seemingly low number field.
Powerball has made more big changes to the game which began with
theJanuary 18, 2012 drawing. The Powerball number group has dropped from 1/39
down to 1/35, which lowers the odds for a $2 ticket slightly, down to one in 175.2
million (about the same odds as Mega Millions, except Mega Millions tickets are
half the price).
Unfortunately, despite lower odds and higher jackpots, the catch is that ticket
prices are now doubled. It will cost you $2 for a single Powerball ticket.
POWERBALL LOTTO HISTORY
Originally, in 1988, Lotto America, Powerball's predecessor, was the game to
play. In April 1992, Lotto America changed to become Powerball. Powerball was
the first lotto game to use two drawings in its format, and it was originally a
5/45+1/45 format game. The game has added numbers to its format many times
over the years. In early 2009, Powerball changed their format from the 5/55 + 1/42
number field (which had been in play since 2005), adding numbers to the main set
and removing some from the powerball number set becoming a 5/59+1/39 game.
Finally, in January 2012, Powerball changed again to the now current 5/59+1/35
game format. This is also when the ticket price jumped from $1 up to $2 per ticket.
THE ODDS OF WINNING A POWERBALL PRIZE
The original Powerball 5/45+1/45 game had odds of one in 54,979,154, but the
odds steadily increased with the format changes. The most recent changed is the
first to have lowered the odds, but since the ticket price doubled, it is not an
advantage. The new 5/59 + 1/35 game has odds of one in one in 175,223,510!.
Powerball did have the worst odds of any lotto game in the country, but is now just
shy of the odds of Mega Millions, unless you consider the high ticket cost, which
makes Mega Millions a better bet. The high jackpots still make these type of games
very popular ones to play despite the odds.
To see the difference between this type and a regular pick-6 game, compare
those odds to a 6/59 Lotto game in which the odds of winning the first prize
jackpot are less than one in 45 million. Just one number from a separate number
field makes the odds more than 3 times as bad. You can use our Odds of Winning
Lotto Games chart to compare many types of games.
POWERBALL LOTTO JACKPOTS AND PRIZES
Jackpots are now bigger, starting at a minimum of $40 million instead of the
previous $20 million. The second prize (won by matching five white balls in any
order) has jumped from $200,000 to $1 million.
Largest Lotto Jackpot Records
On Saturday, May 18, 2013, Powerball's highest ever jackpot reached $590.5
million (beating it's previous $587.5 million record in 2012). The jackpot was won
by a single ticket in Zephyrhills, Florida. Powerball now has the record for the
largest jackpot ever won by a single ticket, and the second largest jackpot in the
world (the largest was Mega Millions' $656 million jackpot in March 2012 which
was split by 3 winners).
To make up for the fact that this game is nearly impossible, Powerball has
lowered the requirements to win a smaller prize. There are 9 ways to win
Powerball - different combinations of regular balls and the red PowerBall that
allow you to win something in the Powerball lotto game. The overall odds of
winning a Powerball lotto prize in the game are approximately 1 in 32. Getting just
the powerball number right (odds of one in 55) will give you a small prize of $4.
HOW DOES POWERBALL WORK? HERE'S HOW TO PLAY
THE GAME.
So, to play the Power Ball game, the player chooses five numbers from 1 to 59,
and then selects one Red Powerball Ball from 1 to 35 to mark on their ticket. Each
ticket costs $2 for one play. The lottery will draw the 5 winning Powerball
numbers from one pool, and then they will draw the winning Powerball number
from a separate pool. Drawings are held twice a week on Wednesdays and
Saturdays around 11pm Eastern time.
The Power Play multiplier feature is still available for an extra $1. You can
also use the special Power Play feature of Powerball to increase your smaller prize
(you must choose the Power Play option for an additional $1 when you buy your
ticket). The Power Play multiplier number is randomly chosen by the lottery before
every drawing and the number drawn determines how much your prize can
increase. The Match 5 bonus prize feature could even make you a millionaire when
the jackpot growth is limited by $25 million increments.
States participating in Powerball are: Arizona, Arkansas, California (*NEW*),
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas,
Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin, and
the U.S. Virgin Islands.
HOW TO WIN POWERBALL
All it takes is two bucks and a whole lot of luck and some Smart
Luck

strategies, of course. In spite of the tremendous odds against winning

Powerball, there are several things you can do to play smart. If you want to know
how to pick Powerball numbers, we have free methods that can help you win!
Lottery numbers are randomly drawn. But randomly drawn numbers form
patterns that can be tracked and used to our advantage. Having carefully analyzed
all the drawings in past lotto results of more than 190 different lotto games
worldwide, with histories going back as far as 1955, Gail Howard has verified the
following incredibly simple rule:
That which is MOST POSSIBLE happens MOST OFTEN.
That which is LEAST POSSIBLE happens LEAST OFTEN.
The key to Gail Howard's successful lotto number selection methods is playing
the probabilities. If you play a pattern that occurs only five percent of the time, you
can expect that pattern to lose 95 percent of the time, giving you no chance to win
95 percent of the time. So, don't buck the probabilities.
Gail Howard's Lottery Strategies to Help You Win Powerball

Below are a few strategic lotto tips to help you learn how to win Powerball, but
for best results, Gail Howard's book, Lottery Master Guide, explains all of her
successful methods ofnumber selection in great detail with examples of patterns
shown throughout. Advantage Plus software makes all the lotto number picking
charts for this game, as well as hundreds of other lotteries.
Wheeling with Powerball
Treat the five white balls as you would any pick-5 game. Wheel them using the
Balanced Wheels in theWheel Five Gold lottery software or the book, Lotto
Winning Wheels for Powerball & MEGA Millions. Do not wheel the Powerball
Ball. The Powerball Ball number is marked on a separate set of 35 numbers on
your bet slip. (If you use the Advantage Plus software, when pressing Alt-B you
can see all the charts for the five white balls; or see all the charts for the Powerball
Ball by itself. Or see all the charts for all six balls together (which Gail Howard
does not recommend). You can also use the powerball ball history file, pb0135.slh
to see only charts based on the powerball ball.
POWERBALL NUMBER TIPS
Here are a few lottery tips on number selection from Gail Howard's lotto
strategy book, Lottery Master Guide, which have been customized to help you
learn how to win the Powerball game (additionalbest Powerball lottery software
and books.)
ODD-EVEN LOTTO NUMBER TIPS
When you select your powerball lotto numbers, try to have a relatively even mix of
odd and even numbers. All odd numbers or all even numbers are rarely drawn,
occurring only 4 percent of the time. The best mix is to have 3/2 or 2/3 which
means three odd and two even, or two odd and three even. Since the new format
change of Powerball, one of these two number patterns has occured in about 70
percent of drawings!
HIGH-LOW LOTTO NUMBER TIPS
Winning Powerball numbers are usually spread across the entire number field, or
across 59 numbers for Powerball. If we take a number field and cut it in half, we
have the low half and the high half. In a 59-number game like Powerball, numbers
1 to 29 would be in the low half, and numbers 30 to 59 would be in the high half.
All high numbers or all low numbers are rarely drawn, occurring in only 4 percent
of Powerball results. The best mix is to have 3/2 or 2/3 which means three high and
two low, or two high and three low. For the current powerball results, one of these
2 patterns has occured in about 64 percent of drawings, so its a very strong pattern
to follow for future powerball drawings.
LOTTERY NUMBER GROUP STRATEGIES
View the Powerball lotto results past history list, and note that most often, one or
two or sometimes even more of the number groups are not represented. For
example, for the March 26, 2011 drawing, 04-10-11-19-33, there were no twenties,
forties, or fifties. Tracking and studying Number Groups can help you decide
which group to omit and which group to give extra heavy play.
LOTTERY GAMES SKIPPED STRATEGIES
List the number of games skipped (games out) since the last hit (win) for each of
the winning numbersduring the last five games. Then mark the number of times
each skip occurred. If any skip from 0 to 5 did not occur, play the Powerball lotto
numbers that are out that many games. (Help working with lotto games skipped.)
LOTTO NUMBER SUM ADVICE - PLAY A BALANCED GAME

After you choose five powerball main numbers you want to play, add them
together and make sure that thesum of the five numbers adds up to somewhere
between 111 and 189. Sums that fall within that range will account for over 70
percent of all lottery jackpots won. Playing a balanced game is one of the keys to
how to win Powerball lotto. Read more about Gail Howard's valuable most
probable range of sums lotto winning formula.
REPEAT HITS LOTTERY TIPS
In Powerball, on average, one lottery number will be a repeat hit from the last
drawing 38 percent of the time. No number will be a repeat 47 percent of the time,
and the other 15 percent accounts for drawings that included more than one repeat
number.
HOT NUMBER LOTTERY SECRETS
Numbers that have been out (losers) for six games or less account for about half of
the winning numbers.Losing numbers that have been out for 9 games or less
account for about two-thirds of all the winning numbers. Losing numbers that have
been out for 12 games or less account for about three-quarters of all the winning
numbers. This tells us that hot numbers are more likely to hit, but don't forget to
include at least one long shot in your group of 5.
COLD NUMBER LOTTERY SECRETS
It is difficult to know when a cold number will end a long losing streak. If you play
a number every drawing because you think it is due, you could be chasing it for
many months. (Number 45 in New York Lotto sat out 100 drawings before it
finally hit.) Although, when a number has been out for 70 games or so, it might be
worth chasing.
LOTTERY POOLS AND LOTTERY SYNDICATES
POOL YOUR WAY TO LOTTO RICHES
Several of the 106 Lotto jackpots won with Gail Howard's lottery systems were
won by groups of people who pooled their money. Sharing the ticket cost with
others stretches your Lotto budget. By playing with a group, you can afford to buy
more lottery ticketsand play larger wheeling systemsthan you could (or
should) by yourself. Draw up an agreement and have the members of your pool
sign it.
HOW TO GET LUCKY IN POWERBALL
CASH IN ON THE LUCK OF OTHERS
When you form a Lotto pool, your group is also pooling its aggregate luck. A
jackpot could happen because of the luck just one member brings to your pool.
Select your partners carefully. Share your luck with winners, not losers. Avoid
negative people. Not only are they unlucky, but they dampen enthusiasm and drain
energy from others. You want to enhance your own luck, not dilute its strength.
One quick way to tell winners from losers is simply to ask them: "Do you think
you are a lucky person?" Many people quickly admit, "I'm unlucky. I never win
anything." They won't bring good luck to your group either.
CASH IN ON A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
No one should play games of chance out of desperation because they need the
winnings. The needy have a greater fear of losing the hard-earned money they
gamble with. It is just one of life's dirty tricks that the very fear of losing blocks the
winning forces. Thoughts are charged with energy, especially when triggered by
emotion. Fear attracts exactly that which one fears. A strong desire for a goal that
is charged with positive energy, attracts a positive response, especially when every
effort is made to attain that goal.
LOTTERY WHEELS
USE BALANCED WHEEL

SYSTEMS
Balanced Wheeling

Systems allow you to bet a large group of numbers (more

than 5), play scientific combinations of that group of numbers, and get a
specific minimum win guarantee. Balanced Wheels

force all the winning numbers

that are in your group to come together to give you at least one prize if some or all
of the winning numbers are in your chosen group.
It's true that the more numbers you wheel, the easier it is to trap the winning
numbers in your chosen group. But to get the most leverage for your money, the
optimum number of numbers to wheel is not more than four or five numbers over
HALF the numbers in your game. For the best way to win Powerball, wheel less than
about 34 of the total 59 numbers (and then mark a few Power Ball numbers
separately on your tickets). Otherwise, you'll be spending MORE money chasing a
SMALLER guaranteed prize. You benefit more by wheeling a carefully selected
group of lotto numbers.
THE BEST WAY TO WHEEL ALL THE LOTTO NUMBERS IN YOUR GAME
Any one wheeling system that covers ALL the numbers in the game is too spread
out, making the win guarantee not worth the wager. There are smart ways to wheel
all the numbers in the game by using Trap-by-Overlap and other wheeling
strategies covered on pages 137 to 142 in Gail Howard's lotto book,Lottery Master
Guide.
Most of Gail Howard's lottery winners used a Balanced Wheel

in addition to her
Smart Luck

number selection methods. You can use a FREE interactive lotto

Balanced Wheeling System that won multiple jackpots. Read about Gail
Howard's lotto winners, too. And when you win a jackpot with Gail Howard's lotto
systems, tell us about it so you can be added to Gail Howard's growing list of
winners. If you don't want your name publicized, Gail Howard will honor that.
SAVE MONEY BY KNOWING LOTTO NUMBERS TO AVOID
Lotto players who select their lottery numbers thoughtlessly or foolishly are
destined to lose even before the drawing takes place. By knowing which number
combinations and patterns to avoid, you'll have an advantage over such players
and save money, too.
AVOID NUMBER COMBINATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN DRAWN BEFORE
Many players like to bet the numbers that have won someone else a big jackpot,
and by doing so, they are almost guaranteed NOT to win one themselves. In
Powerball, with two drawings a week, a set of five numbers plus the Powerball
number has a chance of being drawn once every 1,875,000 years!!! This should also
answer the question Gail Howard is so often asked, "Shouldn't I keep playing the
same set of numbers every week because they are due to hit sometime?"
AVOID BETTING FIVE CONSECUTIVE NUMBERS
Even four consecutive numbers is a very rare occurrence that, in most Lotto games,
has never happened once. Powerball has such a large number field, this is even
more rare than it is for other games. Only 3 adjacent numbers or less have hit
together so far in the current Powerball number format history.
AVOID BETTING ONE LOTTO NUMBER GROUP
Never choose all five numbers from one number group, such as all single digits, or
all teens, or all 20's, etc. All five winning numbers drawn from one group is highly
unlikely.
AVOID THE COMBINATION 1-2-3-4-5
The most popular set of numbers most often played is: 1-2-3-4-5. Thousands of
tickets are bought with this combination every drawing. The selection is too far out
of balance to come up in a random drawing.
AVOID PATTERN BETTING
Pattern betting is an even more popular method of marking bet slips. Patterns of
numbers marked in a row to make a straight line, either across the bet slip
vertically or diagonally get heavy playwhich means sharing the prize with others
if the numbers are drawn as winners. Other designs such as patterns of initials or
numbers or crosses also get heavy play.
AVOID NUMBER MULTIPLES
Other popular combinations that get heavy play are the number multiples,
especially 5-10-15-20-25 and 7-14-21-28-35.
AVOID ALL SAME LAST DIGITS
Many people like to play same last digits, such as 3-13-23-33-43, or all digits that
end in seven, or some other favorite lucky lottery number. Even four same last
digits occur in less than two-tenths of one percent of all drawings. No drawing in
the current Powerball history has had more than 4 same last digits. It is an
excellent strategy to play only one, two, or zero repeat last digits in a single
combination.
AVOID LOW NUMBER COMBINATIONS
The majority of Lotto players like to play the calendar numbers, such as birth dates
and anniversariesand their children's ages. This means that the most heavily
played numbers are 1 through 31. Powerball has 59 numbers. If you play only the
calendar numbers, you would be leaving out almost half the numbers in the game.
The sum of your numbers will be so low, you won't be playing a balanced game.
Since this method is so popular, you might be sharing your jackpot with dozens of
other winners. It's not to say that you shouldn't play your personal numbers if you
feel these lucky numbers are good to play. But Gail Howard recommends that you
include a couple of high numbers so that just in case your numbers do hit, you win
a prize that's worth something.
IN POWERBALL, THE TREND IS YOUR FRIEND
The shortest, easiest way to search for lotto numbers that have the greatest
probability of winning is to track the trends. Gail Howard's Smart Luck strategies
show you how to understand and use historical data in the Powerball lotto game.
Advantage Plus is the best lotto strategy software which has a vast assortment of
charts and reports that allow you to examine your lotto numbers in an infinite
variety of ways.
WIN WITH LOTTO SOFTWARE AND BOOKS
See all Smart Luck lottery software and lotto books or the full lottery product
guide and list of best lottery software and books for Powerball. Also see the
references on the right side of this page: products to use, many articles for more
info on strategy and wheeling, winner stories, links to our free wheels for this
game, and more!
Good Luck with Gail Howard's Smart Luck

.


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT POWERBALL
Q 114: How does wheeling with Powerball work?

Q 127: How do I strategize for just the Power Ball number?

Q 430: Why are there more numbers when using Bonus Only than the Power Ball
uses?

Q: Do you win anything for picking the power ball number alone?
A: Yes, getting just the red power ball as a winner on your ticket will win you a
prize of $4.
Q: Is 2 numbers worth anything in Powerball?
A: You can get a prize for matching 1 white ball with the red power ball ($4
prize), but not for matching just 2 white balls alone. The smallest prize without the
power ball is for 3 white balls ($7 prize).
Q: Did anyone win the Powerball jackpot? Who won the Power Ball drawing?
A: To find out if someone won the Powerball game for the most recent drawing,
go to the Powerball Winner Summary, and it lists the number of Powerball jackpot
winners, as well as small prize winners. Most Powerball winner names are not
released, but there are some Winner Stories Here.
Q: How many numbers are in Powerball?
A: Powerball draws winning numbers from two separate lotto number pools.
There are 5 winning lotto numbers chosen out of 59 total numbers in the first set.
Then there is one winning Powerball number chosen from 35 total numbers in the
second set.