The Powerball you play today isn't the one launched in 1992. The number of balls has changed six times, the price has doubled, Power Play and Double Play have been added and the drawings went from two a week to three. Each change had the same goal: bigger jackpots. Here they are, in order.
Every matrix change
The matrix is the set of balls you choose from. Each redesign added white balls or changed the red ones, and the odds of hitting the jackpot moved with them:
| From | White balls | Powerball | Jackpot odds (1 in…) |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 1992 | 5 of 45 | 1 of 45 | 54,979,155 |
| November 1997 | 5 of 49 | 1 of 42 | 80,089,128 |
| October 2002 | 5 of 53 | 1 of 42 | 120,526,770 |
| August 2005 | 5 of 55 | 1 of 42 | 146,107,962 |
| January 2009 | 5 of 59 | 1 of 39 | 195,249,054 |
| January 2012 | 5 of 59 | 1 of 35 | 175,223,510 |
| October 2015 | 5 of 69 | 1 of 26 | 292,201,338 |
The odds are calculated from the number of possible combinations in each format. The 2012 change is the only one that made the jackpot easier to win, and it came with a price increase.
2001: Power Play arrives
In March 2001, Powerball added Power Play, an optional multiplier for non-jackpot prizes at $1 per play. It changed how the game's smaller prizes feel: a $100 prize could suddenly be worth several hundred dollars. The 10X multiplier came later, with the 2015 redesign, and is only in play when the advertised jackpot is $150 million or less. Today's Power Play is explained in Power Play and Double Play.
2012: $2 a play
In January 2012, the price of a play doubled from $1 to $2, the first and so far only price change in Powerball's history. The red-ball field shrank from 39 to 35, the Match 5 prize went to $1 million and the starting jackpot was raised to $40 million.
2015: the current format
In October 2015, the lotteries moved to the format still used today: 5 white balls from 69 and 1 Powerball from 26. More white balls made the jackpot harder to hit, from 1 in 175.2 million to 1 in 292.2 million; fewer red balls made small prizes easier, and the overall odds of winning something improved from 1 in 32 to 1 in 24.87. The Match 4 + Powerball prize rose from $10,000 to $50,000.
The effect on jackpots was immediate: three months later, in January 2016, the jackpot passed $1 billion for the first time. The list of records is in the biggest Powerball jackpots.
2020: a $20 million starting jackpot
In March 2020, as stay-at-home orders hit ticket sales, the Powerball group lowered the starting jackpot from $40 million to $20 million and set a minimum increase between drawings. The $20 million start is still in place today. How the jackpot grows is in the Powerball jackpot.
2021: Monday drawings and Double Play
From August 2021, Powerball has been drawn on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, instead of just Wednesday and Saturday. At the same time, some states launched Double Play, which enters your numbers into a second drawing with a $10 million top prize.
2026: a jackpot shared with the UK
Since July 2026, the Powerball jackpot is also played for in the United Kingdom, through the National Lottery. UK players have their own lower-tier prizes; for U.S. players, the price, odds, prizes and drawing nights stayed exactly the same.
What these changes mean for statistics
Because the matrix has changed, the history of Powerball numbers isn't one continuous series. White balls 60 to 69 only exist since October 2015, and Powerballs 27 to 35 haven't been drawn since then. Comparing the frequency of a number over all drawings since 1992 mixes different games.
That's why our statistics look at recent drawings, all under the current format. How to read them is in how to read Powerball statistics.
Frequently asked questions
When did Powerball change to 69 numbers?
In October 2015. Since then, you pick 5 white balls from 1 to 69 and 1 Powerball from 1 to 26.
When did Powerball go up to $2?
In January 2012, when the price of a play doubled from $1. It hasn't changed since.
When were Monday Powerball drawings added?
In August 2021. Before that, there were only two drawings a week, on Wednesday and Saturday.
Did anything change for U.S. players when Powerball launched in the UK?
No. The $2 price, the odds, the set prizes and the drawing nights stayed the same. The only difference is that UK tickets also play for the jackpot.
Last reviewed: . Independent information: official results are published by the lottery that runs the game.