Power Play is the $1 add-on the clerk asks about with every Powerball ticket, and most players say yes or no without knowing what it actually does. The short version: it multiplies every prize except the jackpot by 2× to 10×, the Match 5 prize gets a special flat rule, and whether it's worth the extra dollar depends entirely on which prizes you're realistically playing for.
What Power Play does
For an extra $1 per play (on top of the $2 base ticket), a multiplier — 2×, 3×, 4×, 5×, or sometimes 10× — is drawn just before the main numbers. If any of your non-jackpot prizes hit, they're multiplied:
- The $4 Powerball-only prize becomes $8–$40.
- The $100 tiers become $200–$1,000.
- The $50,000 Match 4 + Powerball prize becomes $100,000–$500,000.
- The $1 million Match 5 prize follows a special rule: with Power Play it's always $2 million flat, regardless of the multiplier drawn.
- The jackpot is never multiplied. No add-on touches the jackpot.
The 10× multiplier is only in the pool when the advertised jackpot is $150 million or less — at bigger jackpots the maximum is 5×.
How often each multiplier comes up
The multiplier is drawn from a weighted pool. With 10× in play there are 43 balls: 24 are 2×, 13 are 3×, 3 are 4×, 2 are 5×, and 1 is 10×. So more than half the time you'll get the minimum 2×, and the 10× hits about once in 43 drawings. Without the 10× ball it's 42 balls with the same 2×–5× weights. The average multiplier works out to roughly 2.5×–2.6× — useful for judging whether "double or better" feels worth doubling-ish your prize for a 50% ticket-price increase.
When Power Play is worth it — and when it isn't
Think about which prize you're actually likely to interact with:
- If you're jackpot-only: Power Play does nothing for you. The $1 buys zero jackpot improvement. Skip it, or put the dollar toward another line.
- If mid-tier prizes matter to you: the $50,000 → up to $500,000 and $1M → $2M conversions are where Power Play shines. Odds of Match 5 are about 1 in 11.7 million — long, but people hit it every week, and the difference between $1M and a guaranteed $2M for one dollar is the single best argument for the add-on.
- If you play small and often: multiplying $4 into $8 most of the time is underwhelming; the expected value returned per Power Play dollar is generally below the base game's. It's a fun-multiplier more than a value-multiplier at the bottom tiers.
Compare that with Double Play, the other $1 Powerball add-on: instead of multiplying, it enters your same numbers in a second drawing with a $10 million top prize — mathematically the more generous dollar in most states that sell it. Mega Millions players don't face this choice anymore: since the 2025 overhaul, a 2×–10× multiplier is built into every $5 ticket.
The fine print worth knowing
- Power Play applies to every play on the ticket if selected, and the same drawn multiplier applies to all of them.
- It's sold in every Powerball jurisdiction (unlike Double Play, which is state-by-state).
- Your ticket must have Power Play marked before the drawing — you can't add it retroactively.
- Multiplied prizes are still taxed like any other lottery prize — the usual federal and state rules apply from $600 up.
Bottom line
Power Play turns Powerball's consolation prizes into meaningful money — most dramatically at the $50,000 and $1 million tiers — for $1, drawn from a pool that lands on 2× more than half the time and 10× only at sub-$150M jackpots. If the jackpot is the only prize you care about, skip it; if you'd be thrilled by the middle of the prize chart, it's a defensible dollar. Check tonight's numbers and the current multiplier on our Powerball results page, and see the full prize chart on ways to win.
Prize structures are set by the Multi-State Lottery Association and can change. Play responsibly — 1-800-GAMBLER.