Powerball simulator: play every draw for years
We ran 10,000 players who each bought one Powerball play in every draw for 20 years: 3,120 draws and $6,240 each. The typical result was -$5,691, and only 0.45% of them ended ahead. Choose your own habit below.
Your own habit
Choose 1 to 5 plays, 1 to 50 years and a jackpot of 0 or more.
The simulation could not run in this browser. The results below are those of the default run.
The typical result: -$5,691.
- Plays per draw: 1
- Years: 20
- Draws: 3,120
- Each player spent: $6,240
0.45% of the players ended ahead, and 5.5% were ahead at some point along the way.
The exact average is -$5,028, and the 10,000 players here averaged -$4,695. The typical player does worse than the average, because a few large wins pull the average up.
Players who won the jackpot: 0 of 10,000.
| Of 10,000 players | Result |
|---|---|
| The luckiest | +$994,457 |
| 1 in 20 did better than | -$5,541 |
| 1 in 4 did better than | -$5,639 |
| The player in the middle | -$5,691 |
| 1 in 4 did worse than | -$5,731 |
| 1 in 20 did worse than | -$5,781 |
| The unluckiest | -$5,870 |
This run: trainyourodds. Link to this run: the same link always gives the same players.
How the simulation works
Every player plays in every draw. For each play, one random number picks the outcome according to the exact chances on the odds page, so the 10,000 players follow the same table. The prizes are those of the "is it worth it?" page.
The random numbers come from a generator (xoshiro128**) that starts from a code, the "seed". The same seed always gives exactly the same players, which is why a link can show a run again. The button picks a new seed every time.
The exact average does not come from the simulation: it is what you spend times the average loss of a play. The average of the 10,000 players lands close to it, and the gap between them shows how much luck matters even across that many players.
What this leaves out
- Tax: every figure is before any tax on winnings.
- Time: amounts are not adjusted for inflation, and a prize paid in instalments counts at its full amount.
- A jackpot that changes: every winner here gets the amount you type, not shared, because the operators do not publish how many plays a draw sells.
Sources
The chances are those of the odds page, checked the same way. Prizes and sales were read from these pages:
- Powerball prize chart, checked 3 November 2026
- Powerball game rules, Iowa Lottery, checked 3 November 2026
- Powerball game basics and starting jackpot, Florida Lottery, checked 6 November 2026
Powerball® is a game of the Multi-State Lottery Association. TrainYourOdds is independent and not connected with any lottery operator.