How To Win Powerball Using Strategy

You will have noticed that Powerball creates very large jackpots. That's a big part of it's appeal, and the only reason why a lot of people play it.

But if you start thinking more in terms of your overall strategy then you need to look closer than just the jackpot. Because maybe you need to make some big changes to the way you play it.

What Are The Odds?

Did you know that the US Powerball has almost the toughest odds to beat in the world? I think it's currently the 2nd worst (behind an Italian game) and only just ahead of Mega Millions! It doesn't seem so bad because they keep reducing the number of Powerballs - it used to be 45, then 42, then 39, then 35 - and now it's only 26. But at the same time they kept increasing the number of main balls. It used to be as few as 45 but now it's 5 numbers from 69! That makes a huge difference. The game is literally 530% harder to win now than it used to be.

So the odds are currently 1 to 292,201,338 for the jackpot. Yup, that's over 292 million possible different combinations.

What Strategies Can Help With Powerball?

Firstly consider how often you play the game - do you play every draw? Most people do, and that's out of a 'fear' that their numbers might come up if they don't play them. This is just superstitious nonsense though. If you don't play a draw it's irrelevant - it's no different to not playing a game that you never play. So consider playing just one draw per week and putting all of your weekly budget into that one draw. The math actually proves that this increases your chances of winning. Playing even less often with the same budget increases your overall chances even more.

Another strategy you might want to seriously consider is forming a lottery pool. With Powerball jackpots being so large, even a large pool can play together and still claim a big win each. Would you really mind sharing a $500 Million jackpot between 100 people? If it meant you had 100 times the chance of winning?

Even if you just get family and friends together - who are probably already playing anyway - it's not too hard to find 10 people willing to join a pool. Those 10 people can each buy 10 tickets a week, and suddenly you're playing 100 tickets. That's a lot more than most players would ever buy in a single draw.

This won't be popular because as lottery players we really are creatures of habit, but you might also want to reconsider if Powerball is actually the best strategy for you in the first place. Why are you playing Powerball? Is it just because it has really big jackpots and they advertise them a lot..? Have you ever looked at what other games are available in your state? Because there may well be another game with a much more sane jackpot that is actually vastly easier to win. Most state DO have them!

And you only need to win once, right?