Powerball Odds

[Ashkicker]

We recently added Powerball to the Tennessee lottery. I was looking on the back of the play slip where it shows odds of winning. Your odds of choosing the Powerball brings you a 1 in 70 chance. Yet your choices lay between 1 and 42 not 1 and 70. How is this?

[Yesterdog]

I am sure it is the powerball combined with a winning lottery combination. You have to have something else with the powerball to win, right?

[Ashkicker]

No. Actually pick the powerball only and it brings you $3.

[jmizzou]

From Understanding Powerball Chances:

But the chances of winning look confusing because even at the smallest winning level (just getting the Powerball right), many people think the chances of winning of that should be 1 in 42 (one correct choice out of a drum of 42 balls, right?). But we’re not just playing that one drum; in order to say you “only matched the Powerball” that means you have to have missed all five of the white balls that were chosen in that other drum! The chances of doing that combined with your 1-in-42 shot of getting the Powerball actually come out to being 1 in 70. In other words, there is one chance in 70 that you’d pick the winning Powerball number and miss selecting any of the five winning white-ball numbers.

[Ashkicker]

Ahhh. Thank you for explaining this. Leave it to me. I did pick only the powerball and missed all 5 other balls in last wednesdays drawing. That makes sense.