Tiny rule change that makes Powerball even harder to win

Powerball has jackpotted to a historic $150 million for next Thursday’s draw and one small change is likely the reason no one has won it yet.

The Powerball jackpot has skyrocketed to the largest amount in Australian history, with $150 million up for grabs next Thursday.

Over the past year the prize has jackpotted to record-breaking amounts numerous times, jumping to $100 million in August 2018, then to $107 million in January and $110 million in July.

“Never before has there been such a strong sequence of high Powerball jackpots like the one we’ve witnessed during the past 12 months,” The Lott spokesperson Bronwyn Spencer said.

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But these recent historic jackpots may not just be a coincidence, following a change in the lottery’s format in April last year.

Those who want to be in the running for the top prize must now choose seven numbers from 35 in the main barrel, rather than six numbers from 40.

The Powerball jackpot will be $150 million on Thursday.

This small change has made it almost twice as hard to win the division one prize.

Before the change the odds of taking out the main prize were about one in 76.7 million, now it has increased to about one in 134.5 million.

However, the higher jackpots means more fanfare around the Powerball which likely leads to an increased number of ticket sales, despite the fact it is harder to win the big prize.

When the change was made, The Lott claimed it would result in a higher number of overall winners.

“The odds of winning any prize have improved from 1 in 78 to 1 in 44, so you can look forward to more winners in every draw,” they said at the time.

Not everyone has been impressed with the change, with a few punters sharing their frustrations on The Lott’s Facebook page.

“Please can we fix Powerball l am sick of all these large jackpots l would much rather see smaller jackpots spread around. Let’s spread the load get rid of some of the numbers make it a bit easier to win,” one person wrote.

“How about a petition to return PB to previous game? So, people have a better chance of winning. 1:134m is ridiculous,” another said.

The change has almost halves people’s chances of winning the major prize.

One added: “Almost impossible to win prizes since they changed the format. Waste of money now. Keno is a mile better for odds.”

While no numbers have more of a chance of being drawn than others, some players may choose base their entries off the game’s “hot” and “cold” numbers.

Despite having an equal chance of being drawn, some numbers have appeared more often than others.

The numbers that have appeared most frequently in the past 16 months are 17, which has been drawn 23 times, and 2, which has been drawn 20 times.

Some of the cold numbers from past draws include 12, which has only appeared 6 times, and 26, which has been drawn 9 times.

Ms Spencer said next week’s draw could be historic in more ways than one.

“If one single entry takes home the entire $150 million jackpot next week, needless to say, it would be the biggest Australian lottery prize ever won by a single entry,” she explained.

“This would surpass the previous record by a mind-blowing $43 million.

“The current record for the biggest individual lottery win is held by a Sydney woman, who won more than $107 million in Powerball in January this year.”

The $150 million Powerball draw 1218 will take place on Thursday 19 September 2019.

Originally published as Tiny rule change that makes Powerball even harder to win