WASHINGTON — A huge Powerball jackpot is currently sitting at $1 billion, and you may be wondering if some numbers are "luckier" than others.
The short answer: All combinations have the same tiny chance at winning. To win the jackpot, you need to beat the whopping 1 in 292.2 million odds by matching the numbers on the five white balls and the red Powerball.
Players often wonder if there's a strategy to it. Some numbers have been drawn a bit more often than others, but your chances remain the same for any combination.
Are some numbers luckier?
Statistics professor Rong Chen said in a Q&A article from Rutgers University that any combination has the same odds. Being selected in the past doesn't mean a combination is more or less likely to win: "Those numbers have the same chance of winning as any other number today."
Chen said combinations that other players are less likely to pick, like strong patterns or numbers that are too high to be a birthdate, might reduce your chances of having to share the jackpot. That doesn't make you any more likely to actually win, though.
Just for fun, we wanted to take a look at the "luckiest" numbers in Powerball's recent history. These totals are from the last seven years — from Oct. 7, 2015 to Monday's drawing — according to lottery statistics site lottonumbers.com.
Most common main numbers
Here are the 10 most common numbers to be drawn on the five white balls for the past seven years.
- 61: Drawn 89 times
- 32: Drawn 86 times
- 21: Drawn 83 times
- 36: Drawn 82 times
- 23: Drawn 80 times
- 63: Drawn 80 times
- 69: Drawn 79 times
- 39: Drawn 77 times
- 62: Drawn 75 times
- 59: Drawn 75 times
Most common Powerball numbers
Here are the 10 most common numbers for the red Powerball in the last seven years.
- 18: Drawn 48 times.
- 24: Drawn 47 times
- 4: Drawn 45 times
- 14: Drawn 40 times
- 26: Drawn 38 times
- 11: Drawn 38 times
- 21 Drawn 37 times
- 3: Drawn 37 times
- 25: Drawn 37 times
- 10: Drawn 37 times
The 'loneliest' numbers
The main number that has been drawn the least number of times during the last seven years is 13. The number had only been drawn 47 times and has not been seen since early June.
As for the red Powerball, one number holds the least-drawn spot: 15, drawn just 27 times in the past seven years. It has been a dry period for number 15 as it hasn't been drawn since February 2023.
We make a great pair!
Since two is better than one, we'll look at Powerball's most common pairs for main numbers in the last seven years.
- 32 and 21: Drawn 12 times
- 32 and 58: Drawn 12 times
- 23 and 32: Drawn 11 times
- 37 and 44: Drawn 11 times
- 8 and 27: Drawn 11 times
- 7 and 15: Drawn 11 times
How do you win Powerball?
While the odds of taking home the jackpot are extremely small, Powerball says you have a 1 in 24.87 chance of winning a prize. There are nine ways to win at least a little cash.
What are the largest Powerball jackpots?
- $2.04 Billion – Nov. 7, 2022 – CA
- $1.586 Billion – Jan. 13, 2016 – CA, FL, TN
- $1 billion (est.) - July 19, 2023
- $768.4 Million – March 27, 2019 – WI
- $758.7 Million – Aug. 23, 2017 – MA
- $754.6 Million – Feb. 6, 2023 - WA
- $731.1 Million – Jan. 20, 2021 – MD
- $699.8 Million – Oct. 4, 2021 – CA
- $687.8 Million – Oct. 27, 2018 – IA, NY
- $632.6 Million – Jan. 5, 2022 – CA, WI
What are the largest US lottery jackpots ever won?
- $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California)
- $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
- $1.35 billion Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
- $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
- $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)
- $758.7 million, Powerball, Aug. 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)
- $731.1 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021 (one ticket, from Maryland)
- $699.8 million, Powerball, Oct. 4, 2021 (one ticket, from California)