The Odds of Four Powerball Plays Hitting the Jackpot in One Week Are Very Long
Posted on: May 4, 2026, 09:24h.
Last updated on: May 4, 2026, 09:24h.
- Four Powerball tickets hit the jackpot during the previous two drawings
- Computing the odds of whether the jackpot will hit is partly based on ticket sales
The winning numbers for the Powerball jackpot have hit four times over the last two drawings. The odds of that happening, mathematicians say, are impossible to compute, but Casino.org dug deeper to find some sort of estimation for what is a nearly unthinkable probability.
Last Wednesday, April 29, two tickets, one sold in Indiana and the other in Kansas, matched the winning numbers of 3, 19, 35, 51, 67, and the red Powerball 15. The two winners split a $143.4 million annuitized prize.
During the very next drawing on Saturday, May 2, another two tickets, sold in Florida and Texas, matched the winning numbers of 25, 37, 42, 52, 65, and the red Powerball 14. The jackpot was at just $20 million after resetting from the Wednesday win.
There’s really no bad time to hit a Powerball jackpot, but doing so after a jackpot reset certainly brings some mental torment. The two winners will choose between an annuitized prize of $10 million paid out over 29 years, or a one-time cash option of $4.5 million.
Both prizes are before federal taxes (Florida and Texas do not tax lottery winnings as personal income).
What Are the Odds of That?!
Each ticket sold for a Powerball drawing has the stagnant odds of matching all five white balls and the red Powerball of 1 in 292,201,338. The likelihood of a jackpot hitting does typically shorten as the jackpot climbs, as more tickets are sold and therefore more number combinations are theoretically covered.
The Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots often roll over numerous times until a lucky ticket overcomes the games’ drastically long odds of hitting. That wasn’t the case recently with Powerball.
Since the odds of the Powerball jackpot hitting are not fixed because the outcome is dependent on the number of unique number combinations played, a function of sales volume, it’s virtually impossible to set odds for the probability of the jackpot being hit four times in two drawings. Game sales tend to slow dramatically after the jackpot resets, with lottery officials saying less than 1% of the 292.2 million number combinations are covered in the drawings immediately following a jackpot.
Casino.org asked Gemini, Google’s artificial intelligence program, to analyze historical Powerball sales to generate a “best guess” regarding the mathematical probability of two winners hitting the jackpot in two consecutive drawings. The AI platform said the outcome is likely a 1 in 100,000 event.
The AI answer explained that the probability of two tickets matching the jackpot numbers during the first drawing is roughly 1:20 to 1:40, since sales volume was presumably higher with the $143 million top prize in play. For the next drawing, the likelihood of two tickets matching the winning numbers was much longer at around 1 in 2,500, since ticket sales were greatly reduced with the top prize resetting at $20 million.
Combined, Gemini put the odds of exactly four tickets winning back-to-back Powerball jackpots (two winners in one drawing followed by two winners in the very next drawing) at 1 in 100,000.
Jackpot Bonanza
2026 has been very good to lottery players. Through only a third of the year, the Powerball jackpot has been hit by seven tickets. Mega Millions has hit twice.
Powerball 2026 Wins
- May 2 — $20M — Florida, Texas
- April 29 — $143M — Indiana, Kansas
- April 6 — $230.8M — Delaware
- March 2 — $250.8M — Arkansas
- Jan. 21 — $209.3M — North Carolina
Mega Millions 2026 Wins
- March 17 — $60M — Ohio
- March 10 — $536M — Illinois
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