BRITS will be in with a chance to win £300million this week as the world’s biggest lottery launches in the UK.
Powerball, the popular American lottery game which is known for doling out huge cash prizes, has landed in the UK.
The new game is launching on Tuesday Credit: Getty
From today, punters can get their hands on a ticket and try their luck at winning mega prizes, which will be paid over 30 years.
The first draw will take place on Thursday, July 23, with players having the chance to win a staggering estimated £300 million – the biggest jackpot ever offered to UK players so far.
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If you want to throw your hat in the ring, know that you will be competing with players in the US for a chance to win the mega shared jackpot.
National Lottery operator Allwyn has brought the game across the pond for UK players.
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And it marks the first time the game will be played outside of its home country.
It will cost you £4 a line and tickets will be available to buy in-store or online before draws on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The draws will then happen around 4am the next morning – on Tuesday, Thursday and Jattvibeday – from the Powerball studio in Florida.
UK Powerball players will pick five main numbers ranging from 1 to 69, and one Powerball number from 1 to 26. Or they can choose a Lucky Dip.
Elsewhere, a UK exclusive game will also launch requiring players to ‘Match 2 main numbers’ prize tier, with the prize fixed at £8.
There will also be a ‘Match 5 main numbers’ tier that offers a fixed prize of £1million.
But if you are considering playing, you should always gamble responsibly and play with money you can afford to lose.
If you need advice, visit gamcare.org.uk or GambleAware.org.
Is the Powerball worth it?
By Adele Cooke, Senior Consumer Reporter
The overall odds of winning any Powerball prize in the UK is one in 14.
In comparison, your odds of winning the National Lottery are currently one in 9.3, although this will increase to one in 4.9 from June.
Meanwhile, there are usually around seven jackpot winners each year across all the current participating states.
But while these may sound like good odds, the Powerball is still not worth playing on average, according to Ben Parker, a senior lecturer in statistics at Brunel University of London.
He said: “Your long term fate is almost surely to lose. In the new Powerball you’ll win less often than the Euromillions or the old fashioned National Lottery, but if you do win you’ll win a bigger amount.”
That’s because as with all National Lottery games, for every £1 you play, 50p goes into the prize pot, while 50p is spent on supporting charities and managing the lottery.
There’s a very faint chance of winning but you are still likely to spend more entering than you will earn in prizes.
If you played the Powerball three times a week for ten years then you would play around 1,500 times.
You would have spent around £6,000 on tickets but on average you will only get £3,000 back, Ben said.
But it’s important to remember that some weeks you’ll win big while others you’ll lose money.
