There are ten different ways to win a Powerball prize in the UK for every single draw, with the size of your prize depending on how many numbers you match (more numbers = bigger prizes). You can win £8 by matching just two of the main numbers, which is a UK exclusive prize tier you can’t get in the USA, and prizes continue to increase the more numbers you match. Match all five numbers and the Powerball to win the jackpot that starts at an estimated £12 million, but will quickly rise every draw its not won up to billions of pounds.
The jackpot is the only prize tier that is split between all the players that match five numbers and the Powerball. So, if the jackpot is £100 million and two players win, each would get £50 million. The UK then has two more fixed prize tiers; Match 5 will win you £1 million (which is higher than the USA at $1 million) and the Match 2 tier will win you £8 (a tier that they don’t have in the USA). All the other tiers are dependent on exchange rates with the USA but will largely stay the same.
The Powerball prize chart displayed below shows all the different prize levels and how many numbers you have to match to win that prize level. Remember, you can only win in one prize level, so matching three numbers gets you the Match 3 prize and not the Match 3 + Match 2 prize. We have also displayed the odds of winning each, and the prize amount for each tier.
| Prize Level | Payout | Odds | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 5 + PB | Jackpot | 1 in 292,201,338 | ||||
| Match 5 | £1,000,000 | 1 in 11,688,054 | ||||
| Match 4 + PB | £33,000 | 1 in 913,129 | ||||
| Match 4 | £1,100 | 1 in 36,525 | ||||
| Match 3 + PB | £500 | 1 in 14,494 | ||||
| Match 3 | £52.10 | 1 in 580 | ||||
| Match 2 + PB | £30.80 | 1 in 701 | ||||
| Match 1 + PB | £15.30 | 1 in 92 | ||||
| Match 0 + PB | £11.90 | 1 in 38 | ||||
| Match 2 | £8 | 1 in 28 | ||||
| The overall odds of winning a Powerball prize are approximately 1 in 14 | ||||||
$87 Million
$39.7 Million CASH LUMP SUM
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You can also find the prizes below and how they compare to those you would get if you played in the USA, who have fixed prizes at every level except the jackpot:
| Prize Level | UK Payout | US Payout | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 5 + PB | Jackpot | Jackpot | ||||
| Match 5 | £1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | ||||
| Match 4 + PB | £33,000 | $50,000 | ||||
| Match 4 | £1,100 | $100 | ||||
| Match 3 + PB | £500 | $100 | ||||
| Match 3 | £52.10 | $7 | ||||
| Match 2 + PB | £30.80 | $7 | ||||
| Match 1 + PB | £15.30 | $4 | ||||
| Match 0 + PB | £11.90 | $4 | ||||
| Match 2 | £8 | N/A | ||||
| The overall odds of winning a Powerball prize are approximately 1 in 14 | ||||||
If you win the Powerball jackpot in the UK, the full amount is paid to you in instalments over a 30-year period. On the face of it that will sound strange to UK players as all jackpot prizes are paid as the advertised amount immediately upon a successful claim. In the USA its very normal for the advertised jackpot amount to be paid as an “annuity” meaning its spread over a number of years.
This happens because the Jackpot advertised is the amount you would get if you took the lump sum amount collected from ticket sales and invested it over a 30-year period, paying yourself incrementally from the total pot + investment returns. It offers regular, increasing payments until you have been paid the full amount.
In the USA, winners have the chance to just take the Lump Sum amount, i.e. the amount that has already been collected from ticket sales. This is a much smaller amount compared to the advertised jackpot as it has not been invested.
The majority of jackpot winners take the Lump Sum in the USA. This is usually due to wanting to have all their money now so they can be done with it and begin their new life, rather than having “smaller” amounts over 30 years, and to pay their tax burden straight away (more on that below). UK players won’t have this option at launch.
In the USA, lottery winnings are subject to tax immediately at both the federal and state level on prizes greater than $5,000. Federal tax varies between 24-37%, and state tax from 2.9% to 10.9%, although a number of states do not have state taxes on lottery winnings. That means winning in New York (10.9% state tax) compared to California (no state tax) can massively change your take home pay.
In the UK lottery winnings are not subject to Capital Gains Tax or Income Tax, meaning the value you win is the value you take home. This is likely one of the reasons that jackpots must be claimed as an annuity rather than a lump sum. It also means that jackpot winners in the UK can expect to take home exactly what they’ve won.
That means on a £1 billion jackpot win, someone in the UK would take home at least $370 million more than someone in the USA, or $479 million more than a winner in New York.
It’s not been confirmed if the MUSL will tax UK winners, or if the IRS will tax MUSL itself to pay out the winnings.
