Overview

• The current Powerball prize stands at $750 million, with the lump-sum cash option listed at about $338.6 million for the Monday night draw.
• Mathematician Ashok Singh explains that buying more tickets is the only way to raise odds, yet the gains are tiny and the cost makes the approach impractical.
• Past schemes like Stefan Mandel’s investor-backed ticket buying worked under smaller combination sets and are no longer feasible with today’s lotteries.
• Players pick five numbers from 1 to 69 plus a Powerball from 1 to 26, and winners choose between a 30-year annuity or a reduced one-time cash payment.
• Powerball’s largest prize to date—$2.04 billion—was won by Edwin Castro in 2022, and a judge in 2024 dismissed a theft claim against his ticket.