The US Powerball lottery adds a third weekly drawing on Monday, effective on August 23, 2021. Currently, Powerball is drawn on Wednesday & Saturday.
According to California Lottery “all Powerball sales will be temporarily paused after the draw closes at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 21. Sales for the new Monday draw will begin on Sunday, Aug. 22, at 5:30 a.m.”
The new schedule means that Powerball jackpots are more likely to grow faster to amazing heights. This means we could see jackpots reaching skyrocketing amounts more often.
Powerball jackpots have been slow to build during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Players have let us know they want to play for bigger jackpots and cash prizes, and we want Powerball to deliver on their expectations.” said May Scheve Reardon, Powerball Product Group Chair and Missouri Lottery Executive Director.
However, the addition of a third weekly drawing won’t change the odds of winning, even though we expect the jackpots to climb faster when no one wins the top prize. Players will not have to wait as long for Powerball results to come in.
According to lottery officials, the additional ticket sales from this third weekly drawing are expected to:
- Produce larger jackpots
- Increase the number of Powerball prizes (jackpots & non-jackpots) awarded on an annual basis
The rules of this multi-national game will remain the same: you have to choose 5 main numbers from 1 to 69 & 1 Powerball number from 1 to 26.
The Powerball starting jackpot will stay at $2 Crore and will continue to grow based on ticket sales and interest rates even though lottery officials expect bigger, faster-growing jackpots. The cost of Powerball tickets will also not change.