Three lucky Aussies to share in $150m Powerball prize
One Australian is $50 million richer thanks to the $150m Powerball draw but doesn’t know it yet as two other men woke up to find they had winning numbers. CHECK YOUR TICKETS
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One Australian is $50 million richer but doesn’t know it yet after buying a golden ticket in last night’s historic Powerball draw.
The resident from Ipswich, Queensland has yet to reveal who they are and the nation’s lottery organisation is struggling to contact them.
Earlier this morning The Lott revealed an Brisbane city man and a Sydney father were the two other division one ticket holders who have claimed their share of the massive $150 million prize.
The Lott spokesperson Lauren Cooney said she was excited to reveal that someone who had purchased an entry in Ipswich had woken up $50 million richer.
“If you purchased an entry into last night’s draw from an outlet in Ipswich, you have fifty million reasons why you should check your ticket as soon as possible,” she said.
“We were so thrilled to hear from two of our three division one winners this morning and now we can’t wait to speak to the third winner.”
Draw 1218’s winning numbers were: 26, 4, 17, 5, 18, 8, 31 and a Powerball of 9.
The Sydney dad said he was still trying to get his head around the news he had woken up a multi-millionaire.
“My god. I just told my wife. She was getting the kids ready for school and she does not believe me! I only bought my ticket last minute when I was at work yesterday because everyone else was buying them,” he said.
“I think I might have to take the day off work to calm down and think about how I will use this prize. There’s no way I’d be able to concentrate!” He purchased his entry online at OzLotteries.com
There are also eighteen division two winners, six of them are from ACT or NSW. Those winners will take home $125,916.90.
Earlier this week it was revealed that for just $24 you can dramatically increase your chances of winning the jackpot by buying the number you need — the Powerball.
This guaranteed number, which is bought on a Powerhit ticket, is $10 dearer than the ticket most Australians buy.
Division two winners are required to get all seven numbers correct, but they cannot win the division one jackpot unless they also pick the final “Powerball”.
The Lott’s Bronwyn Spencer said in the past eight weeks, 46 division two winners would have won division one if they had purchased the Powerhit ticket.
“If these winners had bought a Powerhit entry, a special type of entry that guarantees the Powerball, they would have walked away multi-millionaires,” Ms Spencer said.
She said most Australians spend $14.15 on a regular 12-game ticket.
However The Lott revealed overnight majority of winners in last’s draw night took home division nine prizes worth less than their ticket price.
More than three million Australians woke up to a $10.55 prize.
DEFYING THE ODDS
The odds of a winner taking it all are slim in lotto at 134 million to one (for division one). Division two odds are better at 7 million to one.
Last week’s draw still gave away $50.25 million in prizes across the various divisions.
In the previous year 429 Australian have won division one prizes, sharing more than $1.1 billion between them.
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In August, a woman from Tarneit, Victoria won $100,000 after buying her first ever Lotto ticket. In February, a South Australian bought Powerball online and won $40 million and a few months earlier a Queenslander walked into a Nextra on the Gold Coast and walked out $60 million richer.
Ben Brett, a financial adviser for Brisbane’s Bounce Financial, said people who regularly bought Lotto tickets did it because the fantasy of getting rich brings them joy. He said punters should add up the yearly cost of their Lotto spend to determine whether that joy is truly ‘a win’.
“I would encourage people to think about if they are receiving $15 per week ($780 per year) of joy out of this purchase,” he said.
“Maybe you want to direct this money towards something that will bring more joy into your life. A cup of coffee a couple of days a week so you can enjoy the morning? A book every couple of weeks to make commutes to work a bit more enjoyable? Maybe a movie night with the family? We only have so much money we can use on fun expenses, you need to ask yourself whether Lotto is the right one for you.”
Mr Brett said if a punter was strict enough to save their Lotto ticket money each week, with a 5 per cent return they could be $10,000 richer in 10 years.
“Alternatively, if you have a mortgage, you could make larger payments to your home loan. Those small payments each week add up to big changes over the life of your loan,” he said.
UNSW statistician Professor David Warton added up the pros and cons of entering Lotto to conclude that it’s “a waste of time”.
“There’s about 25 million Australians and three die on our roads everyday. It’s fair to say that if you buy a single ticket, on the day Lotto is drawn you are more likely to die than win the big one,” he said.
Professor Warton said buying a ticket was “like putting your money in a bank account with -40 per cent interest rate”.
“Even with a big jackpot like this one, lottos often end up returning less money than people have spent on tickets,” he said.
“Instead of buying a six game Powerball ticket each week, if you put your money in a savings account, 10 years later there’s your very own division three prize.”
In April 2018 Powerball became even harder to win thanks to a small change bumping the division one requirement up to seven numbers and the ‘Powerball’ in a single game.