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Firing Squad

Three women are about to be executed. One's a brunette, one's a redhead, and one's a blonde.

The guard brings the brunette forward and the executioner asks if she has any last requests. She says no and the executioner shouts, "Ready!...Aim!! ..."

Suddenly the brunette yells, "EARTHQUAKE!!!" Everyone is startled and looks around. She escapes.

The guard brings the redhead forward and the executioner asks if she has any last requests. She say no and the executioner shouts, "Ready! ... Aim!!..."

Suddenly the redhead yells, "TORNADO!!!" Everyone is startled and looks around. She escapes.

By now the blonde has it all figured out. The guard brings her forward and the executioner asks if she has any last requests. She says no and the executioner shouts, Ready! ... Aim!! ..."

...and the blonde yells, "FIRE!!!"

The Powerball lottery started already in 1988 but under the name of Lotto America. In 1992 both the game format and the name were changed and Powerball was born. The first draw took place on April 19th the same year.

This was the first game to adapt the now popular two drum concept where you take numbers from two different containers. Since then several other lotteries have used the same system such as EuroMillions, EuroJackpot, and MegaMillions.

The Powerball lottery can be compared to the Kerala State Lotteries. Just like other Indian states took after the Kerala way of creating lotteries, international lotteries took after the Powerball Lottery.

The Powerball game consists of 5 main numbers between 1 and 69 and one Powerball number between 1 and 26. This system is what allows such huge jackpots!

You are free to choose your numbers but you can also be given numbers that are completely random if you want. Unlike many other lotteries, the order in which the main numbers are drawn does not matter since all numbers will be ordered based on their value from low to high.

Draws are made every Wednesday and Saturday at 22:59 ET (Thursdays and Sundays 08:29 IST).

The rules of Powerball
The player picks numbers from two sets in Powerball. Main numbers are picked from a 1 to 69 range. The player needs to pick 5 numbers (white balls). An extra number, named Power Ball, needs to be picked from 1 to 26 (red ball). To win the grand prize, all main numbers and the extra PowerBall number have to be picked correctly.

The players who pick all the main numbers, but miss the Powerball can receive a prize of $1 million.

Winnings in Powerball Lottery can be paid out as a one-time payment or in annual installments. In case of the annual installments, the jackpot needs to be at least $15 million and is paid out for the next 30 years. Each payment is bigger than the previous one.