Powerball jackpots to $40 million

No winner has been drawn for the fifth week in a row, swelling next week’s Powerball lotto jackpot to $40 million.

The Powerball has jackpotted to $40 million after last night’s draw failed to find a division one winner for the fifth week in a row.

The numbers drawn were 27, 4, 25, 3, 21, 16, 12 and the Powerball number was 8. There were three division two winners who each took home $142,767, while 63 division three winners each won $4155.

“While no one matched the seven winning numbers and Powerball number on their entry, there were 882,035 winners across divisions two to nine who took home a collective $15,465,386.60 in prize money,” The Lott spokesman Matt Hart said.

“This includes three division two winners who had every number except that all-important Powerball number — so one number shy of the $30 million division one prize on offer in last night’s draw.”

The $40 million will go up for grabs next Thursday.

The last winner was in January, when a NSW mum became the country’s biggest ever lotto winner with a record $107 million jackpot.

The woman, a healthcare worker in her 40s from inner-city Sydney, said she decided to purchase a ticket with “random numbers” the day before the draw. The winning numbers were 4, 11, 18, 20, 22, 26, 33 and the Powerball was 9.

“I won’t be retiring,” the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said in a press release distributed by TheLott. “I’m so passionate about my job. It will drive me to do more health work for causes important to me.”

The winner said she would be sharing the winnings with her family and giving “a whole slab of money” to her favourite charity. “We might buy a caravan and travel around too,” she said.

To win the top prize, players have to match all seven numbers plus the Powerball, which is drawn from a separate barrel. They can either choose a randomly generated Quick Pick entry, or choose their own numbers.

They can improve their chances of winning by buying a Power Hit entry, which guarantees the Powerball number, a System entry, which lets them choose up to 20 numbers, or a Pick entry that guarantees up to two winning numbers from the main barrel.

The chances of winning with a single game are just one in 134,490,400. Chances of winning with a 12-game entry are one in 11,207,534.

While the Powerball is a random game of chance and every number has an equal chance of being drawn, The Lott says it has crunched the numbers to reveal the most frequently drawn numbers during the past eight months.

“From the main barrel, the most frequently drawn numbers since 19 April 2018 are 29, 32, 17, 22, 24 and 34,” Mr Hart said. “From the Powerball barrel, the most frequently drawn Powerball numbers 3, 19 and 13.”

Last year there were 14 division one winning entries that took home $344 million in prize money. Of these, almost two thirds were Quick Pick entries, while the remainder were marked entries. Nearly a quarter were Power Hit entries.

Powerball tickets can be purchased at newsagents, online at TheLott.com or via TheLott app. Entries close at 7.30pm AEST on Thursday and the draw takes place shortly after.

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