South Carolina Powerball Results

How to Play South Carolina Powerball

Even if you’ve never played any form of lottery before, learning how to play South Carolina Powerball will be a walk in the park. Here’s what you need to do in order to get into the draw:

1. Find the official SC Education Lottery retailer to purchase a Powerball ticket. Each ticket contains five plays, and each play costs $2.
2. Fill out the ticket by selecting five different numbers from 1 to 69 and a single Powerball number from 1 to 26.
3. If you don’t know which numbers to choose and want them to be selected randomly for you, tick the box labelled Quick Pick.
4. Optimally, you can mark the PowerPlay box. This means your prize, should you win, can be multiplied by the PowerPlay multiplier of 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, and 10x. Choosing this option costs an additional dollar. 
5. For one more dollar, you can choose the Double Play option. Doing this gives you the chance of extending your winnings in the Double Play draw, which takes place after the regular draw.
6. Once you are satisfied with your selections, print the ticket and sign it with your name on the back.
7. Wait for the scheduled draw and follow up on your plays.

Instead of purchasing the ticket for every draw, you can select the Multi-Draw option at the bottom of the ticket, which lets you have the same place for up to 30 consecutive draws.

You can only participate in South Carolina Powerball draws by purchasing tickets through a licensed retailer. At the moment, the Lottery does not allow you to buy tickets online.

Powerball Drawing Schedule

South Carolina Powerball draws take place three times a week — every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 p.m., local time. According to the Multi-State Lottery Association, all Powerball tickets must be purchased and printed at least 59 minutes prior to the start of the draw.

Payouts, Odds, and Rules

There’s no great complexity to the rules of Powerball. All you need to do is choose six numbers — five regular ones (white balls) from 1 to 69 and a single Powerball number (red ball) from 1 to 26. 

The jackpot goes to the person who correctly matches all six numbers. Of course, if there’s more than one lucky winner, the jackpot amount will be split equally. In addition, there are eight other winning combinations with predetermined prizes. 

The same rules apply to the Double Play draw.

Here is a table displaying odds and payouts for all winning combinations in Powerball.

The jackpot amount varies, depending on the draw. All prizes can be multiplied through the PowerPlay feature, except for the jackpot and the combination of five numbers, which is capped at $2 million.

How to Claim Prizes

There are several ways in which you can claim your lottery prizes in South Carolina. These include:

• Authorized lottery retailer
• Mail
• Columbia Claims Center

You can only go to retailers for prizes that don’t exceed $500. Any prizes up to $100,000 can be received by mail. However, note that the prizes over $500 can only be claimed with a claim form available at lottery retailers and on the official website of the SC Education Lottery. You will also need a copy of an ID document (state ID, military ID, driver’s license, or your passport).

If you’ve won more than $100,000, you will only be allowed to claim the prize at the Columbia Claims Center at 1309 Assembly Street, Columbia.

South Carolina Powerball Biggest Winners

South Carolina is home to the biggest single-ticket lottery winner in the U.S. The person who chose to stay anonymous claimed $1.57 billion in October of 2018. However, that was the jackpot for Mega Millions. 

As for Powerball, here are some notable winners from SC and their stories:

• A man from Columbia won a near $400 million jackpot in September of 2013, which was the fourth biggest Powerball win at the time and the biggest jackpot win in South Carolina. Coincidentally, he was playing the lottery only for the second time in his life. 
• The second biggest Powerball win in SC was by a pastor named Rev. Solomon Jackson Jr. who won $259 million in April of 2009 after buying the ticket at a Murphy USA gas station in Columbia. Reportedly, the pastor gave away a portion of his winnings for educational purposes.
• Monica and Anthony Wilson from Fort Mill became the winners of an $88 million Powerball ticket in 2003. They were the first-ever Powerball jackpot winners from South Carolina.
• Only a year after the Wilson couple, a woman who chose to stay anonymous claimed a Powerball jackpot of $65.8 million. She purchased the ticket in Townville while driving back from Atlanta.

Powerball History and Facts

• Powerball was introduced in South Carolina in 2002, the same year that the SC Education Lottery was formed.
• The minimum Powerball jackpot is $20 million. It was reduced from $40 million in 2020.
• Lottery players from South Carolina must be at least 18 years old to purchase Powerball tickets.
• All winning Powerball tickets must be claimed within 180 days of the draw.

Other South Carolina Lotteries

Apart from Powerball, the South Carolina Education Lottery features several other exciting lottery games, including multi-jurisdictional games, like Mega Millions and Lucky for Life, as well as local games, such as Pick 3, Pick 4, and Palmetto Cash 5.

South Carolina Powerball FAQs

How do you win South Carolina Powerball?

To win the Powerball jackpot, match all 5 white balls and also the Powerball number. You win $1 million when you match all of the 5 white balls but not the Powerball number.

By adding Power Play^®, for $1 more per play, you can multiply all non-jackpot prizes by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or 10X.

Refer to the chart above for detailed South Carolina Powerball payouts and prize amounts.

When is the South Carolina Powerball draw?

South Carolina Powerball drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.

How late can you buy Powerball tickets in South Carolina?

Ticket sales for South Carolina Powerball stop at 9:59 p.m. ET on Wednesdays and Saturdays, approximately an hour before the draw.

How much tax do you pay on South Carolina lottery winnings?

By law, South Carolina lottery will withhold 24% of winnings for federal taxes and 7.0% for state income taxes.

Use our Powerball payout and tax calculator to find out how much taxes you need to pay if you win the Powerball jackpot – for both cash and annuity options.

Other United States Lotteries