West Virginia Powerball Rules

Search Virginia Past Lottery Numbers How to Play Powerball? Powerball is a multi-state jackpot game with a jackpot starting at $40 million and increasing until it's won. The Powerball annuity jackpot is awarded according to an annually-increasing rate schedule, which increases the amount of the annuity payment every year. The table below shows the payout schedule for a jackpot of $30,000,000 for a ticket purchased in Virginia, including taxes withheld. Pick five different numbers from 1 through 70; then select one Mega Ball number from 1 through 25. You can also play Easy Pick and let the computer choose your numbers. Use a combination of these play methods - pick some of your favorite numbers and let the computer fill in. The jackpot amount for VA Powerball on Saturday, January 9, 2021 is $470,000,000. Can I buy a VA Powerball ticket online? If you're outside the U.S. Or in Texas, California, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Washington or Pennsylvania you can purchase Powerball tickets through Lottery.com at play.lottery.com! Never miss a Powerball draw! Now you can buy and play your favorite jackpot game anytime, anywhere in Virginia. Whether you want to buy a single ticket for the next draw, or purchase multiple drawings at once, you never have to worry about missing a drawing. All the info you need is right at your fingertips!

The main rules for playing Powerball in West Virginia are the same as they are in any other state: pick five numbers between 1 and 69 and one Powerball between 1 and 26, and try to match them with the winning numbers drawn. The following state-specific rules also apply:

• You must be 18 years or older to purchase Powerball tickets. However, those under the age of 18 can claim prizes with tickets bought for them as a gift.
• You can play up to 24 consecutive draws in advance by marking the desired number in the ‘Multi-Draws’ section of your playslip.
• To play a random line of numbers, you need to ask your retailer for an ‘Easy Pick’ or mark the option on your Powerball playslip.
• Lottery prizes in West Virginia are subject to a 6.5 percent state tax, in addition to any federal taxes.
• You can remain anonymous providing you have won $1 million or over, and you relinquish five percent of your prize money to the State Lottery Fund.

See the How to Play page for more information

Prizes of $600 or less can be claimed from any lottery retailer in the state. Prizes over this value must be claimed from the West Virginia Lottery’s headquarters in Charleston, or the regional office in Weirton. You must fill in a prize claim form and provide a valid photo ID and proof of your social security number. The address of each office can be found in the table below. Both offices are open 8:00am-5:00pm ET Monday through Friday.

Alternatively, you can claim prizes of $600 or more by mail. You must provide the signed winning ticket, along with a copy of your driver’s license or government-issued photo ID, a copy of your social security card, a mailing address, and a daytime telephone number. You must also include a completed claim form. Mail all of these documents to: West Virginia Lottery/Claims, PO BOX 2913, Charleston, WV 25330.

Virginia Lottery Powerball How To Play

If you are part of a lottery pool that wins a large Powerball prize, every member of the group needs to fill out a claim form and provide valid photo ID and their social security number. Each individual member will then receive a check for their share of the money, and each person will be taxed accordingly.

You have 180 days from the date of the winning draw to claim any prizes. Any money left unclaimed after this period is returned to the prize fund for use in second chance drawings and other promotions. Unclaimed prizes also go towards paying retailer commissions.

Virginia Lottery Powerball Numbers By Year

Lottery tickets are bearer instruments, so anyone who possesses a winning ticket can claim a prize with it. To protect yourself, you should sign the back of your ticket straight after purchase. That way, it will be easier to prove that you are the ticket’s rightful owner if it is lost or stolen. If a ticket is too damaged to be validated by the West Virginia Lottery, prizes may not be paid out.

You can remain anonymous if you win a large Powerball prize in West Virginia, providing you have won a prize worth $1 million or more, and you give up five percent of your winnings to the State Lottery Fund. If you request anonymity, your name and personal contact information will be kept private.

You can ask for anonymity by contacting the West Virginia’s State Lottery Director in writing. You need to send your letter to West Virginia State Lottery Director, P.O. Box 2067, Charleston, West Virginia 25327. You can also request anonymity by visiting the state’s lottery headquarters in person. Their address is 900 Pennsylvania Ave, Charleston, WV 25302, and they are open between 08:00 CT and 17:00 CT from Monday to Friday.

The director will then arrange an appointment to meet you in person to validate the legitimacy of your ticket. Once this has been confirmed, you must give five away five percent of your winnings before being granted anonymity and completing the process.

You will automatically go public if you have won under $1 million, and cannot ask for anonymity. Your name and photograph may be used by the lottery for any promotional purposes it chooses. The place where you bought your ticket and how much you won may also be disclosed to the public, but other personal information, such as your address, will remain private.

Around half of the revenue from the sale of lottery tickets goes back to West Virginians in the form of prizes. After commissions and other game costs have been covered, the remaining money is transferred to the State Lottery Fund. The table below shows how the money from ticket sales is split:

Virginia Lottery Powerball Mega Millions

Money allocated to the State Lottery Fund is used to for public education programs, to improve the quality of life for senior citizens, and to help the state’s Division of Tourism, the Division of Natural Resources, and the State Park Improvement Fund. Around $10 billion in revenue has been allocated to these areas, including over $3 billion to schools and education. The money has helped build new schools and renovate existing ones, and has provided scholarships for promising students heading to college or university.

Since 1986, over $1 billion has been used to improve the quality of life of senior citizens in West Virginia through the Bureau of Senior Services. The money is used to provide meals and long-term care for the state’s senior citizens, and has funded senior centers, transportation, and a property tax credit for people of a certain age.

Virginia Lottery Powerball Play

Finally, another $1 billion has been used to boost tourism in the state and attract new visitors by showcasing West Virginia’s areas of natural beauty.

West Virginia’s biggest ever Powerball jackpot was won on Christmas Day all the way back in 2002. The $314 million won by Jack Whittaker was also the biggest prize ever seen in a U.S. lottery at the time. Whittaker owned a successful construction company before his win and had a net worth of around $17 million. He said he only played the lottery when the jackpot reached $100 million, and after spending $100 on tickets at a supermarket in Hurricane, WV, he hit the big money. He took a pre-tax cash payout of $170 million.

Whittaker’s life since the win has been an eventful one. In August 2003, less than a year after the windfall, thieves broke into his car and stole $545,000 in cash that Whittaker had been carrying around in a suitcase. The following year, another $200,000 was stolen from his car, but this money was later recovered. In September 2004, Jesse Tribble, a boyfriend of Whittaker’s granddaughter Brandi Bragg, was found dead at Whittaker’s home, and just two months later Bragg was herself found dead. A coroner’s report said that Tribble’s death was due to a drugs overdose, and Bragg’s was ruled “unexplained”.

More recently, in December 2016, Whittaker’s house in Bland County, WV, suffered extensive damage after a fire started in the kitchen and spread to the rest of the building. His wife was home at the time but was not injured. Despite the best efforts of volunteer firefighters from five separate departments, the house, which was not insured, was eventually declared a total loss.

Virginia Lottery Win For Life

Despite his difficulties, Whittaker has also been known for his generosity since his win. He used $14 million to establish the Jack Whittaker Foundation to help low-income families in West Virginia. He also bought a new house and car for a manager at the store where he bought the winning ticket, in addition to giving her a check for $44,000.

Virginia Lottery Powerball Winning Numbers

West Virginia was also home to a group of office workers that landed one of the biggest Powerball jackpots ever won by a lottery pool. Linda Fominko and seven of her co-workers from the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department won $276 million in March 2008 and took home a cash lump sum of $139 million, or $12 million each after tax. It is the second-biggest jackpot ever to be won in West Virginia, and speaking about the moment she found out about the win, Fominko said her heart “kind of stopped”. The group was known as ‘The Lucky Eight.’