How Powerball Drawings Work: Machines, Balls and Security

Powerball drawings take place three nights a week, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET, in the Florida Lottery's draw studio in Tallahassee. The numbers come from gravity-driven drawing machines loaded with numbered foam balls, and every drawing is supervised by lottery security staff and observed by an independent accounting firm. Results aren't official until the drawing has been checked and certified.

A lot happens before and after the roughly one-minute segment you see on TV. This guide covers the studio, the equipment, the security steps, the Power Play and Double Play drawings, and how to watch. Where we couldn't confirm a detail with an official source, we've left it out.

Where and when Powerball is drawn

Powerball is a multi-state game run by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a nonprofit group owned and operated by its member lotteries. MUSL doesn't hold the drawings in its own office in Iowa, though. According to powerball.com, drawings are "broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 pm ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee."

The Florida Lottery says its draw studio and equipment vault are in the basement of its headquarters building in Tallahassee and that the area is under 24-hour video surveillance. The same studio hosts Florida's own draw games.

How the schedule has changed

For years, Powerball was drawn only on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The first Monday drawing was held on August 23, 2021, the same night the Double Play add-on launched. Powerball said at the time it was "the first time in Powerball's 29-year history" that drawings would be offered three nights a week, and that the extra drawing would not change the game's odds or set cash prizes.

The draw time is the same everywhere, but each lottery sets its own sales cutoff. Our Powerball drawing schedule guide lists the time in every U.S. time zone and explains how cutoffs work.

What happens when the studio is closed

Tallahassee sits in hurricane country, so the game has backup plans. Powerball has twice moved a drawing to a backup site in Iowa because of hurricanes: on October 10, 2018 (Hurricane Michael) and on September 25, 2024 (Hurricane Helene). In the 2024 case, the drawings were held at the normal time but weren't broadcast live; recordings were posted afterward on Powerball's official YouTube channel. Since July 21, 2026, Powerball tickets have also been sold in the United Kingdom, but powerball.com says drawings "will still be held at the Powerball draw studio in Florida."

The drawing machines and ball sets

Powerball uses two drawing machines for the main game: one holds the 69 white balls and the other holds the 26 red Powerballs. Five white balls are drawn from the first machine and one red ball from the second.

Halogen II machines from Smartplay

On September 24, 2020, Powerball announced new drawing equipment that debuted in the September 30, 2020 drawing. According to that official announcement, "The new drawing machines are the Halogen II model from Smartplay International, Inc." Powerball described the Halogen II as an upgraded version of the gravity-driven machines it had already been using.

In general terms, a gravity-driven machine mixes the balls mechanically inside a clear chamber, and the mixing comes from the balls falling and colliding with each other rather than from blown air. A ball is then released into the collection tube by the machine's drawing mechanism.

We found no newer official announcement of a different model, so Halogen II is the latest one Powerball has named publicly.

Solid foam balls

The same 2020 announcement switched the ball sets from hard rubber to solid foam. Powerball called solid foam balls "the new industry standard for ball sets used in gravity-driven machines."

Multiple machines and sets, chosen at random

Lotteries don't rely on a single machine and a single ball set. Florida Lottery has said, in a statement quoted by news outlets, that "there are multiple draw machines and ball sets available for use at any particular drawing," and that the machine and ball set "is selected at random just prior to the drawing." Nobody knows in advance which equipment will be used, so tampering with one machine ahead of time would be pointless.

Security: draw managers, auditors and checklists

The security around a Powerball drawing is built on one principle: no single person should be able to influence the result, and every step should be witnessed and documented.

Who is in the room

The Florida Lottery describes two key roles at its drawings. "A Lottery draw manager and an auditor from an independent auditing firm attend and participate in every drawing," according to the Florida Lottery's integrity page. The draw manager is a Florida Lottery special agent and a certified law enforcement officer. Both arrive at least 90 minutes before the drawing.

Powerball's own footer states the bottom line for players: "Official winning numbers are those selected in the respective drawings and recorded under the observation of an independent accounting firm." MUSL hasn't published the name of the current audit firm on powerball.com, so we won't guess at it.

What a typical draw night involves

Based on the procedures the Florida Lottery has published, a drawing night follows roughly this sequence:

1. Arrival. The draw manager and independent auditor arrive at the studio at least 90 minutes early.
2. Equipment selection. A machine and a ball set are chosen at random from the equipment available for that drawing.
3. Ball checks. The ball set is weighed on certified electronic scales to confirm nothing has been altered.
4. Pre-tests. The machines are run through test draws to make sure they're working properly.
5. The checklist. The draw manager and auditor work through what the Florida Lottery calls "a detailed checklist that thoroughly scrutinizes all aspects of each drawing."
6. The live drawing. At 10:59 p.m. ET, the Power Play multiplier is selected and the white and red balls are drawn on camera.
7. Post-draw checks. The ball sets are weighed again after the drawing, and the results are recorded and verified.
8. Storage. The equipment goes back into the secured vault until the next drawing.

Weighing before and after is a simple control: an altered ball would show a difference in weight, and the second weighing confirms the set used is the one checked beforehand.

How results become official

Here's a detail that surprises many players: the numbers you see on TV aren't the end of the process. A drawing produces "official" results only after the required security and verification steps are finished, and that includes steps at every participating lottery, not just in Florida.

Each lottery has to finish its checks

Every lottery that sells Powerball must close sales and complete security steps before winners can be counted. Powerball says it "has strict security requirements that must be met by all 48 lotteries before and after each drawing to produce official draw results."

That requirement became very visible on the first Monday drawing, August 23, 2021. Powerball later reported that the drawing was held at 11:56 p.m. ET instead of 10:59 p.m., with the Double Play drawing at 12:21 a.m. ET on August 24, because "several lotteries" needed extra time to complete the required security protocols. Powerball explained that without official results, "the next estimated jackpot cannot be calculated and, in some jurisdictions, prizes on winning tickets cannot be paid," and it asked players to hold on to their tickets until retailers were cleared to pay.

The most famous delay came with the record $2.04 billion jackpot drawing of November 7, 2022. The drawing was held up for hours because a participating lottery needed more time to complete required security protocols, and the numbers were drawn the next morning. Even with the largest jackpot in history waiting, the drawing didn't go ahead until every lottery's checks were done.

What gets published, and when

After a normal drawing, the winning numbers and Power Play multiplier usually appear on powerball.com and state lottery websites within minutes. Winner counts by prize tier, where winning tickets were sold, and the next jackpot estimate generally follow later, once every lottery has reported. Powerball also notes that if there's ever a discrepancy between a website and the drawing itself, "the official drawing results shall prevail." Always confirm a winning ticket with your state lottery, not a news story or social media post.

How the Power Play multiplier is drawn

Power Play is the $1 add-on that multiplies non-jackpot prizes. The multiplier is selected as part of each drawing, before the white and red balls are drawn. New York's published rules say the multiplier is "selected at random, with the aid of drawing equipment, pursuant to the controls and methods established for the Powerball game," so it goes through the same kind of supervised process as the main numbers.

The possible multipliers are 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x and 10x, but 10x is only included when the advertised jackpot is $150 million or less. The official odds of each multiplier are published in state lottery rules:

Those odds work out exactly as if the multiplier were chosen from 43 equally likely possibilities: 24 for 2x, 13 for 3x, 3 for 4x, 2 for 5x and 1 for 10x. When the jackpot is over $150 million, the single 10x possibility is removed, leaving 42. For example, 24 out of 43 is 1 in 1.7917, and 24 out of 42 is 1 in 1.75. This is a mathematical reading of the published odds; Powerball doesn't publish a diagram of the exact equipment used for the multiplier.

Here's how often each multiplier has actually come up since the current game format began in October 2015.

Share of drawings

Loading chart…

Source: official Powerball results (New York State open data), 1,420 drawings from 2015-10-07 to 2026-10-14. Calculated by TodayPowerball. Past frequencies do not change future odds. 10x is only in play when the advertised jackpot is $150 million or less.

View data table (5 rows)

	Share of drawings
2x	56.27%
3x	31.76%
4x	6.48%
5x	4.08%
10x	1.41%

Chart: TradingView Lightweight Charts™ · Data & analysis: TodayPowerball

The real-world results line up with the official odds. With 10x available, 2x should come up about 55.8% of the time; without it, about 57.1%. The actual 56.3% sits right between them, as you'd expect from a mix of both situations. 10x shows up in only 1.4% of drawings, below its 2.3% odds, because it simply wasn't available in the many drawings with larger jackpots. What this chart can't tell you is what the next multiplier will be. Each one is selected fresh. Our Power Play guide covers what each multiplier pays.

How the Double Play drawing works

Double Play is a separate $1 add-on, offered in 30 lotteries at last count, that enters the same numbers on your ticket into a second drawing with its own fixed prizes and a $10 million top cash prize. According to powerball.com, "The Double Play drawing is held after every Powerball drawing on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday."

Two details about the drawing itself are worth knowing:

• It uses the same number fields. New York's rules describe Double Play winning numbers as "selected after selection of the Powerball winning numbers" and drawn "from the same complete fields of numbers," meaning five white balls from 1 to 69 and one red ball from 1 to 26.
• It's a completely separate result. The Double Play numbers have no connection to the main drawing's numbers. A ticket can win in one drawing, both or neither.

The Power Play multiplier does not apply to Double Play prizes. For the prize table and the list of participating jurisdictions, see our Double Play explainer.

Do the drawings really produce random results?

A fair game also needs equipment that doesn't favor certain balls. Long-run history is one way to check: biased machines or balls would make some numbers show up far more often than chance can explain.

The chart below counts how often each white ball has been drawn across 1,420 drawings since the current 69-ball format started on October 7, 2015.

Times drawnExpected if perfectly even (102.9)

Loading chart…

Source: official Powerball results (New York State open data), 1,420 drawings from 2015-10-07 to 2026-10-14. Calculated by TodayPowerball. Past frequencies do not change future odds.

View data table (69 rows)

	Times drawn	Expected if perfectly even (102.9)
1	94	102.9
2	103	102.9
3	114	102.9
4	100	102.9
5	94	102.9
6	109	102.9
7	96	102.9
8	96	102.9
9	96	102.9
10	95	102.9
11	100	102.9
12	105	102.9
13	77	102.9
14	97	102.9
15	97	102.9
16	112	102.9
17	102	102.9
18	105	102.9
19	105	102.9
20	102	102.9
21	127	102.9
22	92	102.9
23	119	102.9
24	100	102.9
25	91	102.9
26	83	102.9
27	118	102.9
28	121	102.9
29	95	102.9
30	103	102.9
31	100	102.9
32	118	102.9
33	118	102.9
34	85	102.9
35	92	102.9
36	118	102.9
37	113	102.9
38	97	102.9
39	109	102.9
40	105	102.9
41	92	102.9
42	100	102.9
43	99	102.9
44	112	102.9
45	102	102.9
46	84	102.9
47	113	102.9
48	92	102.9
49	84	102.9
50	102	102.9
51	92	102.9
52	110	102.9
53	114	102.9
54	100	102.9
55	95	102.9
56	101	102.9
57	100	102.9
58	100	102.9
59	113	102.9
60	95	102.9
61	126	102.9
62	113	102.9
63	117	102.9
64	125	102.9
65	94	102.9
66	102	102.9
67	104	102.9
68	99	102.9
69	117	102.9

Chart: TradingView Lightweight Charts™ · Data & analysis: TodayPowerball

Every white ball has landed near the even-share line of about 103 appearances. The most-drawn ball (21) has come up 127 times and the least-drawn (13) 77 times. That spread might look large, but it's what pure chance produces: random results never land exactly on the average, and with 69 balls a few will always drift well above or below it. When we simulated thousands of perfectly fair histories of the same length in our hot and cold numbers analysis, the highest and lowest counts looked just like these.

Just as important is what the chart does not mean. It isn't a list of numbers to play or avoid. A ball that has been drawn 127 times has exactly the same 5-in-69 chance in the next drawing as one drawn 77 times. The balls have no memory, and no number is ever "due." Every combination has the same 1 in 292,201,338 chance of hitting the jackpot.

How to watch a Powerball drawing

You have several official ways to watch:

• Live stream on powerball.com. Powerball says its drawings, including Double Play, "are also live streamed right here on the Powerball website" on its Watch the Drawing page.
• Local TV. Participating television stations in many markets broadcast the drawing live at 10:59 p.m. ET.
• Powerball's YouTube channel. Recorded drawings and draw show clips are posted there.
• Your state lottery. State lottery websites and apps post the results soon after each drawing, and many link to the video.
• In person. The Florida Lottery says all of its drawings are open to the public. If you're thinking of visiting the Tallahassee studio, contact the Florida Lottery first to confirm current visitor arrangements.

The live segment lasts about a minute, so tune in on time. If you miss it, results are on powerball.com within minutes.

Frequently asked questions

Where are Powerball numbers drawn?

At the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee, Florida, every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET. Backup sites in Iowa have been used when hurricanes closed the Florida studio.

Are Powerball drawings done by computer?

No, the main Powerball numbers are drawn by physical, gravity-driven machines using solid foam balls. Since September 30, 2020, Powerball has used the Halogen II model from Smartplay International. Quick Pick numbers on tickets are generated by computer, but that's a separate process from the drawing.

Who makes sure the drawings are fair?

Each drawing is run by a Florida Lottery draw manager, a sworn law enforcement officer, together with an auditor from an independent auditing firm. Powerball says official winning numbers are "recorded under the observation of an independent accounting firm."

Why are Powerball results sometimes delayed?

Every participating lottery must finish required security protocols before results are official. When one or more lotteries need extra time, the drawing or the official results can be delayed, as happened on August 23, 2021 and November 7, 2022.

The bottom line

A Powerball drawing looks simple on TV, but there's a careful system behind it. Drawings happen in a secured, video-monitored studio in Tallahassee. Halogen II gravity machines and solid foam ball sets are chosen at random, weighed and tested. A sworn draw manager and an independent auditor witness every step, and results aren't official until all participating lotteries complete their security checks. Power Play and Double Play go through the same supervised process.

None of that changes the odds (1 in 292,201,338 for the jackpot, about 1 in 24.87 for any prize); it makes sure they're honest. If you play, treat it as entertainment, set a budget you're comfortable losing, and remember you must be 18 or older (older in some states). If gambling ever stops being fun, the National Problem Gambling Helpline is available 24/7 by call or text at 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738).