How Much Do You Win If You Only Match One Powerball Number?

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A lot of people playing Powerball may notice that they match only one number in the drawing. Well, if that’s you, don’t get too excited. If you’re watching the Powerball drawing for $1.9 billion and discover that you matched only one number, just how much are you going to walk away with? Unfortunately, it’s not very much. If you only matched one white number on the Powerball, you did NOT win any money. If you only matched one number and it was the red Powerball Number itself, then you’ll win $4.

You Win $4 If You Match the Red Ball, But Nothing If You Only Match One White Ball

There are multiple ways to win Powerball. But if you only matched one white number, then you haven’t won anything tonight.

If you matched only the red ball (the Powerball, which is the last number drawn), then you’ll win $4. You can put that money into buying two more Powerball tickets!

Of course, if you played the Power Play and matched that too, then your winnings will be multiplied by whatever the Power Play amount was. So if you matched one red Powerball only and the Power Play was 10x, then you’ll walk away with $40.

How Do the Other Powerball Matches Work?

Here’s how the other matches work. If you match all five white balls, in any order, but not the Powerball, then you’ll get $1 million. If you match four out of five of the white balls and the Powerball, you’ll win $50,000.

The amount you win drops dramatically after this. You have two ways to win $100: either match four out of five of the white balls OR match three white balls and the Powerball.

Next is your shot at $7. You’ll win $7 if you either match three out of five of the white balls OR you match two white balls and the Powerball. Last is your shot at $4, which you could use to buy two more Powerball tickets if you wanted. You’ll get this if you match one white ball and the Powerball OR if you just match the Powerball.

The odds of winning the Powerball are 1 in 292 million, slightly better than the odds of winning Mega Millions which are 1 in 302 million. If you win, you’ll have to decide if you want a lump sum or an annuity. An annuity guarantees an income stream for 30 years that includes a 5 percent yearly increase to offset inflation. This can help ensure you don’t spend all your money too fast or make poor decisions. But there’s a small chance that the entity making the payout might run out of cash before 30 years is up. With the lump sum, you’ll get less money overall, but you’ll get it all at once. Some financial advisors say that if you invest your lump sum wisely, you might end up with more money than you would from annuity payments. But of course, it could go the other way too.

Many players match just one white ball and get excited, thinking they’re taking home some money. Sadly, that just isn’t the case.

The Newest Powerball Drawing

The Powerball for November 7 is worth $1.9 billion. The drawing is Monday night at 10:59 p.m. Eastern. This is the largest Powerball drawing that we’ve ever had.