$40m Powerball jackpot to climb even higher after no big winners

The $40 million Powerball jackpot has been drawn and the lucky numbers revealed. Click here to see if you are a winner.

The $40 million Powerball jackpot will climb even higher after no one took out the major prize.

There were four winners in division two, each taking home almost $170,000 each.

The numbers you needed this week were 23, 20, 17, 27, 22, 32, 12 and the Powerball was 17.

So far this year, there have been 12 division one wins that have collectively taken home $360.17 million.

Six of the 12 Powerball division one winning entries have been from NSW, four from Queensland, one from Victoria and one from the ACT.

The largest Powerball prize won so far this year was an $80 million jackpot won in August by a North Melbourne cleaner.

Thursday’s $40 million cash prize isn’t too far behind that.

Three weeks ago a dad from Queensland took home $10 million, the most recent time the Powerball prize has been won.

The self-proclaimed “battler” from Ipswich said he’d been entering the Powerball for years.

The winner/s, if there are any, will be announced at 8.30pm AEDT.

“After all these years, we have finally won. It is absolutely incredible!” the Ipswich dad told lottery officials.

“We’ve gone from being real battlers to having money. I can’t wrap my head around it.

“We never expected to win this much. It will change our lives in such a massive way.

“I am honestly really lost for words. I can hardly string a sentence together.”

The dad then outlined what he was going to do with the windfall.

“We will pay off the mortgage to begin with and be debt-free,” he said.

“I will work part-time instead of full-time. I have always wanted to make some smart investments and of course, help our children.

“I will be able to pay off their mortgages in full. And when we can, we will travel around the country.

“It will make a big change. The reality of it all really hasn’t sunk in.”

Three weeks ago, a dad nabbed $10 million in the Powerball.

Thursday’s $40 million is a lot of money to be sure, though not nearly as much as the $80 million won on August 13 this year.

A Melbourne dad nabbed Australia’s third biggest lottery prize in history to the tune of $80 million. It was the biggest prize of 2021 so far.

“I am so excited. I checked my ticket late last night. I couldn’t sleep after that!” the family man told The Lott.

“I lost my job during one of the many lockdowns here in Melbourne. We had only just bought a home and didn’t see it coming.

“I’ve been working as a cleaner ever since to make ends meet.

“Like for so many people, these lockdowns have been really tough for our family.

“But I’ve always said, you’ve just gotta keep trying. Now, look what’s happened.”

The man had a one in 134 million chance of picking the right combination of numbers.