Quick Answers
No, it is not too late to buy a Powerball ticket for the next drawing on Saturday. Powerball tickets can be purchased up until 9:59 p.m. EST on draw nights. As long as you buy a ticket before the cut-off time, you’ll be eligible for that night’s drawing.
Every week, the Powerball lottery holds drawings with jackpots starting at $40 million that continue to roll over if there is no grand prize winner. With the jackpot climbing into the hundreds of millions of dollars, many people wonder if they’ve waited too long to buy a ticket once the grand prize starts ballooning to astronomical levels.
The good news is that even if the jackpot is high, you can still buy a Powerball ticket up until shortly before the drawing occurs. This article will provide key information about how and when to purchase Powerball tickets, as well as tips and historical background. Keep reading to find out if it’s too late to play Powerball and potentially win big.
When Do Powerball Sales Cut Off Before Each Drawing?
Powerball drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday night at 10:59 p.m. EST. Ticket sales cut off at 9:59 p.m. EST on the night of the drawings. That gives you a 1-hour window right before the balls are drawn to buy your ticket, even if the jackpot has ballooned to a massive amount after weeks of rollovers.
As long as you buy your Powerball ticket by 9:59 p.m. EST on drawing nights, it will be eligible for that night’s jackpot. If the jackpot continues to roll over, you can continue playing the same ticket for future drawings.
Key Powerball Ticket Buying Deadlines
- On Mondays, ticket sales end at 9:59 p.m. EST for that night’s drawing
- On Wednesdays, ticket sales end at 9:59 p.m. EST for that night’s drawing
- On Saturdays, ticket sales end at 9:59 p.m. EST for that night’s drawing
As long as you meet these deadlines, you aren’t too late to play for that night’s huge jackpot!
Where Can You Buy Powerball Tickets?
Powerball tickets can be purchased at thousands of licensed lottery retailers across the 45 participating states, as well as Washington D.C. and the U.S Virgin Islands. Some states allow online Powerball ticket sales as well.
In-Person Retailers
To find an in-person lottery retailer near you that sells Powerball tickets, you can use the search tool on the Powerball website. Just enter your location and nearby retailers will be displayed on a map.
Common types of businesses that may sell lottery tickets include:
- Gas stations
- Convenience stores
- Grocery stores
- Liquor stores
- Pharmacies
- Newsstands
Make sure you look for the Powerball logo or point-of-purchase materials so you know tickets are sold at that location.
Online Ticket Sales
In some participating states, Powerball tickets can be purchased online. You’ll need to create an account with that state’s lottery website and deposit funds to place orders. Here are a few states that offer online ticket sales:
- Michigan
- Kentucky
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Washington D.C.
Check with your state lottery for specifics on online sales availability and the process for purchasing tickets online.
Can You Buy Powerball Tickets on Drawing Days?
Yes, you can buy Powerball tickets on the day of the drawing up until the sales cutoff time. For Monday and Wednesday drawings, this means you can purchase tickets throughout the day up until 9:59 p.m. EST.
For Saturday drawings, ticket sales open at 6:00 a.m. local time on Saturdays and close at 9:59 p.m. EST. So you have all day on Saturdays to buy your ticket.
The key is simply making sure your ticket purchase is completed by 9:59 p.m. EST. Many players wait until the day of the drawing to buy tickets, especially if they want a chance at a huge jackpot that’s continued to increase.
Can You Buy Powerball Tickets After the Cutoff?
Unfortunately, Powerball tickets cannot be purchased after 9:59 p.m. EST on drawing nights. The cutoff time is strictly enforced to provide enough time to complete the drawings and validate ticket sales. Retailers cannot sell tickets even 1 minute past the deadline.
If you attempt to buy a ticket after hours on drawing nights, retailers will not be able to accept your purchase. You will need to wait until the next drawing date during regular sales hours.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline?
If you don’t buy your Powerball ticket before 9:59 p.m. EST on drawing nights, there are a couple options:
- Play on the next drawing date – Powerball drawings occur every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. If you missed one drawing, you can simply buy a ticket by the deadline for the next one.
- Second chance drawings – For some missed drawings, non-winning Powerball tickets may be eligible for entry into second chance drawings. Check your state lottery for details on promotions.
While missing the cutoff means you won’t be able to play for that night’s jackpot, you can always buy a ticket for a future drawing. The jackpot will continue increasing if there is no winner, so you still have chances to win big.
What’s the Largest Jackpot You Can Buy Into?
The largest Powerball jackpot to date was a whopping $1.586 billion in January 2016. The jackpot reached this record amount after rolling over for weeks with no grand prize winners.
Even though the jackpot had skyrocketed to such an enormous sum, ticket sales continued right up until the drawing cutoff time. The record jackpot demonstrates that no matter how high the top prize grows, you can still purchase tickets at authorized retailers and online.
The current title holder for largest U.S. lottery jackpot will likely be surpassed at some point in the future. Powerball jackpots tend to grow to unprecedented levels due to the game’s very steep odds of 1 in 292.2 million. When the jackpot goes weeks without a winner, excited players continue feeding the pot until it reaches astronomical heights.
Have Powerball Jackpots Ever Reached $1 Billion?
While no lottery in the United States has topped a $1 billion jackpot yet, Powerball has come close on a few occasions. Here are some of the lottery’s largest jackpots to date:
| Jackpot | Drawing Date |
|---|---|
| $1.586 billion | January 13, 2016 |
| $768.4 million | March 27, 2019 |
| $758.7 million | August 23, 2017 |
| $731.1 million | January 20, 2021 |
Based on these near-miss billion dollar jackpots, it seems inevitable that the $1 billion mark will be eclipsed eventually. When that day comes, ticket sales will continue right up until drawing time at 9:59 p.m. EST.
Has Anyone Ever Won the Jackpot on a Last-Minute Ticket?
While the odds are incredibly long, some lucky players have won huge Powerball jackpots on tickets purchased at the last minute:
- In August 2017, a Massachusetts hospital worker won a $758.7 million Powerball prize on a ticket bought at a gas station the day of the drawing.
- An anonymous winner scored a $450 million jackpot in January 2018 with a ticket purchased minutes before the sales cutoff time.
- A Wisconsin couple won $316.3 million in September 2019 on a ticket bought just hours prior to the drawing.
These last-minute wins demonstrate that even if you’ve waited until the very end, there’s still a chance you could win it big. Of course, your odds are the same no matter when you buy your ticket. But these lucky eleventh hour winners show it’s possible.
Should You Buy Multiple Tickets When the Jackpot is Big?
When the Powerball jackpot climbs into the stratosphere, many players get jackpot fever and purchase multiple tickets to increase their odds. The allure is that buying 100 Powerball tickets when the prize is $500 million will give you 100 times better odds than buying just one.
While this is mathematically true, your odds are still incredibly small. Let’s say you buy one ticket when the jackpot is $500 million. Your odds of winning are 1 in 292.2 million. If you buy 100 tickets instead, your odds will be:
100 tickets = 100 chances to win = Odds of 1 in 292.2 million / 100 = 1 in 2.922 million
So buying 100 tickets only improves your odds to 1 in 2.922 million. Still very unlikely to win the grand prize.
Some experts recommend limiting your Powerball ticket purchases to what you can comfortably afford to lose. Mathematically, buying more tickets gives you a better chance. But be aware that your odds are still incredibly low, even with multiple tickets.
Should You Join a Lottery Pool When the Jackpot is Big?
Lottery pools can be fun socially and do improve your odds in theory. For a $2 Powerball ticket, the Power Play add-on is $1 more. Here is how a 10-person lottery pool would work:
- Each person contributes $3
- 10 people x $3 = $30 total
- The pool captain uses the $30 to buy 10 Powerball tickets with Power Play
- If anyone in the pool wins, the jackpot is split 10 ways
By pooling money, the group gets 10 tickets for the price of one. This concept makes Powerball pools popular when the potential jackpot is massive. Everyone gets excited about playing together.
Of course, disputes can happen over pool winnings. Make sure you create an agreement upfront and find honest pool captains. While pools do increase odds marginally, the odds of winning are still microscopically low.
Have More People Been Playing Powerball?
Interest and ticket sales for Powerball have increased substantially since the game was launched in 1992. Some key milestones:
- 2016: Record $1.586 billion jackpot leads to unprecedented ticket demand. Some retailers sell hundreds per minute before the cutoff.
- 2017: $758.7 million jackpot surges sales. Over $1 billion in ticket sales occurs before the drawing.
- 2019: Total annual sales exceed $6 billion for the first time.
- 2021: 30th anniversary of Powerball sees sales increase again for a $731 million jackpot.
Massive jackpots like these cause Powerball fever across the nation. Even though the odds are extremely low, people line up daily to buy tickets when the top prize climbs into the hundreds of millions.
In more recent times, it seems like new jackpot records happen more frequently. This generates recurring waves of enthusiasm for the game.
Why Do More People Play When the Jackpot is Huge?
There are a few key reasons why Powerball ticket sales surge when the jackpot grows to epic proportions:
- Dreaming of life-changing money – A prize of $500 million or more has an allure unlike smaller jackpots. Even a fraction of that money would provide financial freedom.
- Media hype – Massive jackpots get heavy news coverage. This creates a fear-of-missing-out effect.
- Office pools – Large groups playing together drives sales. The excitement is contagious.
- Long odds less daunting – When the payoff is astronomical, people care less about the infinitesimally small odds.
While every Powerball drawing captures people’s attention, it’s the once-in-a-lifetime mega jackpots that truly get Americans in a tickets-buying frenzy.
Does Powerball Ever Get Too Big?
Major lottery jackpots are exciting, but some experts argue they can get too big. Here are some downsides of jackpots climbing too high:
- Buying Frenzy – When the frenzy for tickets hits, responsible gambling can go out the window. Players may bet more than they can afford to lose.
- Potential Bankruptcy – Studies show big lottery winners often go bankrupt within a few years due to poor money management. Massive sums can be complex to handle.
- Split Jackpots – Once the jackpot surpasses $500 million, multiple winners become more common. A diluted grand prize takes away some appeal for players.
While the chance to win hundreds of millions has an irresistible appeal, reasonable jackpot sizes in the $100-200 million range are likely ideal for both players and lotteries.
Will Powerball Change Game Rules If Jackpots Get Too Big?
Powerball does have procedures to control extremely high jackpots. Lottery officials can alter game parameters to make jackpots grow more gradually and create more lower-tier winners.
Some potential changes include:
- Increasing number pool size – More numbers make the odds longer so jackpots take longer to build.
- Improving lower-tier prize payouts – Higher payouts on smaller prizes keep the jackpot growth contained.
- Increasing number picks – More numbers on a ticket makes it easier to match a few instead of all five.
By tweaking these dynamics, massive jackpots can be reined in before they create excessive lottery frenzy. However, lotteries also like high jackpots for the excitement and extra revenue they generate.
Conclusion
In the end, it is never too late to buy a Powerball ticket, even when the jackpot has ballooned into hundreds of millions of dollars after many weeks with no winner. Tickets can be purchased up until 9:59 p.m. EST on drawing nights.
Powerball mania ensues when the jackpot starts climbing toward new record levels. Even though the odds are incredibly long regardless, many players can’t resist the excitement. Just like winners on last-minute tickets have proven, you could buy a Powerball ticket moments before the deadline and still win the jackpot.
