The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338 per £4 line, the same in the UK as in the US. Winning any prize is far more likely, about 1 in 13 (The National Lottery rounds it to 1 in 14), largely because the UK has a prize the US doesn't: a fixed £8 for matching two numbers. Here are the odds of all ten UK prize tiers, how they're worked out, how they compare with other UK games and what does, and doesn't, change them.
The odds of every UK prize tier
| Match | Prize | Winning combinations | Odds per line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 + Powerball | Jackpot, shared with the US and paid over 30 years | 1 | 1 in 292,201,338 |
| 5 | £1,000,000 (fixed) | 25 | 1 in 11,688,054 |
| 4 + Powerball | Shared prize, estimated at £33,000 | 320 | 1 in 913,130 |
| 4 | Shared prize, estimated at £1,100 | 8,000 | 1 in 36,526 |
| 3 + Powerball | Shared prize, estimated at £500 | 20,160 | 1 in 14,495 |
| 3 | Shared prize, estimated at £52.10 | 504,000 | 1 in 579.8 |
| 2 + Powerball | Shared prize, estimated at £30.80 | 416,640 | 1 in 701.4 |
| 1 + Powerball | Shared prize, estimated at £15.30 | 3,176,880 | 1 in 92.0 |
| Powerball only | Shared prize, estimated at £11.90 | 7,624,512 | 1 in 38.4 |
| 2 (UK only) | £8 (fixed) | 10,416,000 | 1 in 28.1 |
| Any prize | 22,166,538 | About 1 in 13 (1 in 14 according to The National Lottery) |
The odds are the figures published by The National Lottery, rounded up. The winning combinations column shows how many of the 292,201,338 possible lines win each tier. The estimated prizes are The National Lottery's own: apart from Match 5 and Match 2, each tier shares a set percentage of that draw's UK sales among its UK winners, so real amounts vary from draw to draw. All the details are in Powerball prizes.
How the odds are worked out
There are 11,238,513 ways to choose five main numbers from 69, and each can be combined with any of the 26 Powerballs. Multiply them and you get 292,201,338 possible lines, only one of which matches the winning numbers exactly: hence the jackpot odds.
The other tiers count the lines that match exactly the right balls. For Match 5 you need all five main numbers and any of the 25 losing Powerballs: 25 lines, or 1 in 11,688,054. For Match 4 + Powerball you need four of the five winning numbers (5 ways), one of the 64 losing numbers and the Powerball: 320 lines. For Match 2 you need two of the five winning numbers (10 ways), three of the 64 losing ones (41,664 ways) and a losing Powerball (25 ways): 10,416,000 lines, which is why it comes up roughly once every 28 lines.
If the chance of matching the Powerball is 1 in 26, why is “Powerball only” 1 in 38.4? Because that tier also needs none of your five main numbers to match. If one of them does, you're in the Match 1 + Powerball tier instead.
About 1 in 13, or 1 in 14?
The National Lottery gives the overall odds of winning any prize as 1 in 14. Add up the odds it publishes for each tier, though, and you get 22,166,538 winning lines out of 292,201,338, or about 1 in 13.2. Either way, roughly one line in thirteen or fourteen wins something, most often £8 for Match 2 or the Powerball-only prize.
In the US, where there's no prize for two numbers, the overall odds are 1 in 24.87. Match 2 accounts for almost half of all UK winning lines, which is why a UK line is nearly twice as likely as an American one to win something. That prize is part of what a £4 line pays for: see Powerball UK vs US.
What 1 in 292 million looks like
If you played one line in every draw, about 156 a year, you'd expect to wait on average around 1.9 million years for a jackpot. Ten lines a draw would cut that to about 187,000 years. Covering every possible combination for a single draw would cost £1,168,805,352. That's not a reason not to play; it's a reason to play for fun and to spend only what you're happy to lose.
The odds are the same in every draw. A record jackpot and one that has just restarted at around £10 million to £12 million give each line exactly the same 1 in 292,201,338 chance. What changes is how many people play, and so how likely you'd be to share: the jackpot is split equally between every winning line in the UK and the US. More in the Powerball jackpot.
How Powerball compares with other UK games
| Game | Price per line | Odds of the top prize | Odds of any prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powerball | £4 | 1 in 292,201,338 (jackpot) | 1 in 14 |
| EuroMillions | £2.50 | 1 in 139,838,160 (jackpot) | 1 in 13 |
| Lotto | £2 | 1 in 22,528,738 (jackpot) | 1 in 4.9 |
| Thunderball | £1 | 1 in 8,060,598 (£500,000) | 1 in 13 |
Figures as published by The National Lottery. Powerball's jackpot odds are about twice as long as EuroMillions' and about 13 times as long as Lotto's; in return, its jackpot has no cap and can reach hundreds of millions of pounds. The UK's two biggest draws are compared in Powerball vs EuroMillions.
Odds per pound spent
Because a Powerball line costs more than other games, it's worth comparing what the same money buys. Here's the chance of the top prize with £20 spent on a single draw of each game:
| Game | Lines for £20 | Chance of the top prize |
|---|---|---|
| Powerball | 5 | 1 in 58.4 million |
| EuroMillions | 8 | 1 in 17.5 million |
| Lotto | 10 | 1 in 2.25 million |
| Thunderball | 20 | 1 in 403,030 (£500,000) |
Pound for pound, the Powerball jackpot is the hardest top prize to win among The National Lottery's draw games, and usually the biggest. On average, 41.2% of what's spent on Powerball comes back as prizes, about £1.65 of every £4 line; the rest is shared between UK good causes, Lottery Duty, retailers and running costs. See where Powerball money goes.
What more lines do and don't do
- More lines give you more chances in proportion: five lines are five times as likely to win as one, but they cost five times as much, so the odds per pound don't change.
- Identical lines don't add a chance. Playing the same numbers twice in one draw only means two shares of the prize if they win.
- Syndicates let you hold more lines for the same money, at the cost of sharing any prize. Put the arrangement in writing; see our tips.
- Lucky Dip or your own numbers make no difference, and nor do hot, cold or “lucky” numbers: every combination has the same chance. Why is explained in how to read Powerball statistics.
- There are no add-ons or system entries in the UK: no Power Play, no Double Play, and every line is five numbers and a Powerball.
- Avoiding popular combinations doesn't improve your odds, but it makes it less likely you'd have to share a prize.
Frequently asked questions
What are the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot in the UK?
1 in 292,201,338 per line, the same as in the US: the number of ways to pick 5 numbers from 69 and a Powerball from 26.
What are the odds of winning any Powerball prize in the UK?
About 1 in 13 per line, adding up The National Lottery's own tier odds; it quotes 1 in 14. That's much better than in the US, 1 in 24.87, because UK players also win £8 for Match 2.
What are the odds of winning £1 million on Powerball?
1 in 11,688,054 per line: you need all five main numbers but not the Powerball. In the UK, Match 5 pays a fixed £1 million.
Is Powerball harder to win than EuroMillions?
Yes. The Powerball jackpot is 1 in 292,201,338 per line, roughly twice as long as EuroMillions' 1 in 139,838,160, and a line costs £4 instead of £2.50.
Does buying more lines improve my odds?
Each extra line adds one more chance, so five lines are five times as likely to win as one. The cost rises by the same amount, so the odds per pound stay the same.
Are the odds better when the jackpot is bigger?
No. The odds are the same in every draw. A bigger jackpot attracts more players, which only makes it more likely that you'd share the prize.
Last reviewed: . Independent information: official results are published by the lottery that runs the game.