The US Powerball has attracted the attention of many people around the world, including in South Africa.
This is happening for good reason as the popular draw can now be played from all over the country and other parts of the world.
Looking at the odds
The odds of winning the US Powerball main prize are sizeable, at about one in 292-million. Those jackpot odds are a lot shorter than the US MegaMillions at one in 302-million or Italy's SuperEnalotto at one in 620-million. But they're longer than the EuroMillions' one in 140-million or Oz Powerball's one in 80-million.
How often draws happen
The US Powerball has one of the bigger draw frequencies among lotteries around the world. It's not as frequent as draws that happen multiple times in a 24-hour period or once a day, but three times a week — on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
It's more often than a lot of draws which happen twice in a week. With the US Powerball, people have a chance to win at the start, towards the middle and nearing the end of the week. South Africans can stay up late or get up early to check the US Powerball results immediately, or do so later online.
How to enter
All you have to do is select five numbers from between 1 and 69 and an additional number from 1 to 26. It's that simple.
Considering those digits
Many people just use the random selection function for their numbers, which takes planning out of the equation. Many others prefer to base their selection of digits on different factors. One could take a look at the so-called hot and cold numbers — those which have not been drawn in a while, or which have been drawn recently.
For manually selected numbers, there is also the approach of basing these digits on birthdays, anniversaries and other big milestones. South Africans can be superstitious and they may lean on the same numbers more often.
Same numbers or not?
In 2021, a man from Cape Town won more than R50m in the lottery after playing the same numbers for a prolonged period.
“I have played the same numbers since November last year. Each number represents a significant date in my life,” he said at the time.
In the same year, an unemployed SA mother bagged a R158m lottery prize with the same numbers she had used many times before.
“I am still in disbelief, overwhelmed yet very excited that I am the R158m jackpot winner. I lost my job last year. The winning numbers keep replaying in my mind. I've been playing the same numbers for a while now.
“I missed the live draw show for some odd reason, so I decided to check the draw results and I had the shock of my life.”
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