"What time is the Powerball drawing tonight?" is one of the most-Googled lottery questions in America — usually typed at 10:45 PM by someone holding a ticket. Here are the draw times for Powerball, Mega Millions, and state games, the time-zone conversions, and the one detail that catches people out: ticket sales stop before the drawing, not at it.
Powerball draw time
Powerball is drawn three times a week — Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 PM Eastern Time, live from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. In other US time zones that's:
- 9:59 PM Central
- 8:59 PM Mountain
- 7:59 PM Pacific
If your state offers Double Play, that second drawing happens shortly after the main one on the same nights.
Mega Millions draw time
Mega Millions is drawn twice a week — Tuesday and Friday at 11:00 PM Eastern Time, from Atlanta, Georgia. That's 10:00 PM Central, 9:00 PM Mountain, and 8:00 PM Pacific.
Between the two national games, there's a drawing five nights a week: Powerball on Monday/Wednesday/Saturday, Mega Millions on Tuesday/Friday. Only Thursday and Sunday have neither.
When do they stop selling tickets?
This is the part that ruins draw-night plans. Every state sets its own sales cut-off, and it's always before the drawing — typically one to two hours earlier. Many states stop Powerball sales around 9:45–10:00 PM ET on draw nights; some cut off even earlier. Buy a ticket after your state's cut-off and it counts for the next drawing, not tonight's.
Rule of thumb: if you want in on tonight's draw, buy before dinner, not before bed. Your state lottery's website lists the exact cut-off, and the terminal receipt shows which draw date your ticket is entered in — check it before you walk away.
State game draw times
State games follow their own clocks, and many draw more than once a day:
- Daily numbers games (Pick 3, Pick 4, Cash 3, Daily 4 and similar) usually have a midday draw (roughly noon–1:30 PM local) and an evening draw (roughly 6:30–11 PM local), often seven days a week.
- State lotto and Cash 5-style games typically draw once nightly, between about 9 PM and 11 PM local time.
- Multi-state games like Lucky for Life, Cash4Life, and Lotto America each keep a single national draw time, like Powerball does.
Every game page on Lottery Atlas shows that game's draw days and the next draw time in the game's own time zone — see Powerball or Mega Millions, or pick your state from the homepage.
How soon are results posted?
Winning numbers usually appear within minutes of the drawing on official channels, and jackpot amounts for the next draw are updated shortly after. Our results pages update continuously through the night — here's how to check results the reliable way.
Bottom line
Powerball: Monday, Wednesday, Saturday at 10:59 PM ET. Mega Millions: Tuesday and Friday at 11:00 PM ET. State games run on local time, often twice daily. And the real deadline isn't the draw time — it's your state's sales cut-off, one to two hours earlier. Check tonight's numbers on our homepage.
Draw times are set by the lotteries and can change around holidays. Play responsibly — 1-800-GAMBLER.