How to Play PowerBall XTRA
PowerBall XTRA is an optional add-on to PowerBall which can be played at half the cost of the main game and still offers multimillion-rand jackpots. The top prize has even been known to climb higher than R100 million. Learn everything you need to know about PowerBall XTRA here.
PowerBall XTRA is played every Tuesday and Friday evening, with draws taking place at 21:00 alongside the main PowerBall game. It costs R5 per board to play PowerBall XTRA, taking the total cost to enter both games to R15. You do not need to select an additional set of numbers to take part, as the board you pick for the main game will also then be entered into the supplementary XTRA game.
Separate draws are conducted for both games, with five main numbers randomly selected from 1 to 50, along with one additional PowerBall number between 1 and 16. Ticket sales close half an hour before the draw, at 20:30 - find out how to enter online and in-store below:
Online
- Open an online lottery account or sign in if you already have one.
- Select PowerBall.
- Choose five numbers from 1 to 50 and one PowerBall from 1 to 16, or choose a Quick Pick
- Select the PowerBall XTRA option.
- Pick how many draws you want to enter.
- Checkout and pay for your entries.
Remember that you cannot play PowerBall XTRA without also entering the main draw.
In-Store
- Go to a lottery retailer to fill out a betslip.
- Mark the PowerBall XTRA box at the top of the betslip.
- Pick five numbers and a PowerBall on as many boards as you want to play.
- Mark how many draws you want to play - leave blank if you just want to enter a single draw.
- Pay for your ticket and keep it safe until the draw.
There are various other ways to play, including online, in-store and via the websites and apps of some major banks. Visit the How to Play page for more information about these different entry methods.
Prizes and Odds
To win the PowerBall XTRA jackpot, you need all of your chosen numbers to match the full set of winning numbers. If nobody does that in a given draw, the top prize will roll over to the next draw and keep growing until it is won.
Even if you don’t predict all the numbers, there are eight other ways to win prizes. The six lowest categories offer fixed awards. If the division 1 Jackpot in Powerball Xtra is not won in the final draw of a calendar month, the Jackpot shall not roll over to the next Powerball Xtra draw. Instead, the Jackpot amount shall be cascaded and distributed to winners in division 2. If there are no winners in division 2, the Jackpot amount shall be allocated to division 3 winners. If there are no winners in division 3, the Jackpot amount shall roll over to division 1 of the next Powerball Xtra draw.
The prize pool referes to a percentage of net ticket sales. The table below shows all the different ways you can win a prize, along with the odds of doing so.
| Prize Division | Numbers Matched | Odds of Winning* | Prize Per Winning Entry | Average Prize for the past 365 days' draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 + PowerBall | 1 in 33,900,160 | 91% | R58,500,000.00 |
| 2 | 5 | 1 in 2,260,011 | 6% | R |
| 3 | 4 + PowerBall | 1 in 150,667 | 3% | R19,827.90 |
| 4 | 4 | 1 in 10,044 | Fixed R1,000 | R1,000.00 |
| 5 | 3 + PowerBall | 1 in 3,424 | Fixed R250 | R250.00 |
| 6 | 3 | 1 in 228 | Fixed R50 | R50.00 |
| 7 | 2 + PowerBall | 1 in 239 | Fixed R50 | R50.00 |
| 8 | 1 + PowerBall | 1 in 46 | Fixed R10 | R10.00 |
| 9 | PowerBall Only | 1 in 28 | Fixed R5 | R5.00 |
If you win a prize, you must claim your money within 365 days of the draw taking place. Go to the How to Claim page to learn what you need to do to receive your winnings.
FAQ
Further information about PowerBall XTRA can be found in the FAQs below. Go to the PowerBall page if you want to learn more about the main game.
The winning PowerBall numbers are drawn at approximately 21:00 every Tuesday and Friday. PowerBall draws are immediately followed by the draw for PowerBall XTRA.
No. You must always enter the main PowerBall draw first to be able to play PowerBall XTRA.
PowerBall XTRA is the new name for PowerBall Plus, officially rebranded in June 2026. It serves as a supplementary game that gives players a second chance to win using the same numbers selected for the main PowerBall draw.
The record for the largest jackpot of all time for this supplementary draw was set on Friday, 10 July 2020, back when the game was known as PowerBall Plus. A single player from KwaZulu-Natal won a massive R153 million.
The first draw took place on 1 December 2015 under its original name, PowerBall Plus. At the time, the PowerBall matrix required you to pick five main numbers from 1 to 45 plus one additional number between 1 and 20. The pool of main numbers was increased to 50 in June 2018, leading to more rollovers and bigger jackpots across both games. (Note: In June 2026, alongside the rebranding to PowerBall XTRA, the number pool for the main PowerBall numbers shifted to 1–50 and the PowerBall selection changed to 1–16).