How to Choose Your Powerball Numbers

Quick Picks vs Own Numbers

You have two choices when playing Powerball - you use five main numbers from 69 and one Powerball from 26 of your own choosing or you let the lottery terminal do the job for you, creating a random selection.

Although there are many online myths about one method being more likely to succeed than the other, the truth is that around 70 to 80 percent of Powerball players use Quick Picks and 70 to 80 percent of prizes are won on Quick Pick tickets, which makes sense when you consider that a single set of numbers has exactly the same chance of coming up as any other. The Quick Picks vs Own Numbers page has more information on these two ways to play Powerball.

Using Special Dates

A well-used tactic for picking Powerball numbers is to use significant dates, such as birthdays. The advantage to selecting your lines in this manner is that they are memorable, so you are less likely to miss out on claiming your prize if they do come up. However, as the longest months only have 31 days, you limit your number range and, as soon as a ball bearing 32 or above is drawn, you know that you cannot win the jackpot.

Using Patterns on the Playslip

When faced with a clean playslip, it is tempting to create a pattern to form your lines. This tactic worked for the German pensioner who won €50 million ($60 million) in May 2017 by creating the shape of a crucifix on his card.

However, some UK National Lottery players fell foul of this approach in 1995 when all of the winning numbers appeared in the same small space on the play slip. Usually there would have been one or two winners at most, but on this occasion 133 ticket holders shared the jackpot of £16 million ($22.1 million), each claiming just £122,510 ($166,000).

Picking the Most Common Powerball Numbers

If you visit the Powerball Statistics page, you can find a host of information about which balls have been drawn the most often, the least often and which are most overdue an appearance in the winning line. Many players consult this data before making their selections, feeling they can predict future occurrences based on historical performance.

In reality, each draw is a separate event, and past draws have no influence over what happens when the numbers are dispensed on Wednesday and Saturday nights in Tallahassee, Florida.

The only way to improve your odds of winning Powerball is to play more lines in a single draw. Whichever method you use to craft your lines, you can pick up tickets at authorized retailers across the US.