Powerball jackpots to $80 million after five weeks of no wins

There’s a one in 134 million chance of a single ticket winning the $80 million jackpot in next week’s Powerball.

After five weeks of nobody picking the right numbers for Powerball, the prize has soared to a staggering $80 million.

On Thursday night, a whopping $60 million was on offer – but the cash once again went unclaimed as no entry held all seven winning numbers.

Although the division one prize wasn’t snaffled up by a lucky punter, some Aussies got the benefits of divisions two through nine windfalls.

Lottery officials handed out 1,874,111 prizes worth more than $33.4 million. The largest prizes were four division two winners who each took home $231,561.65.

As for the $80 million that will be up for grabs next week, the chances of winning are still pretty slim.

There’s a one in 134 million chance of a single ticket winning the $80 million jackpot.

However, a Melbourne dad managed to beat those odds in August when he took home the entire fortune earlier this year.

There will be $80 million up for grabs next week.

A cleaner from North Melbourne nabbed the enormous cash prize in August, which was the largest prize on offer so far this year and the third largest ever won in Australia.

The Lott revealed that the newly minted millionaire was a middle-aged dad who had lost his job to the coronavirus pandemic and was working as a cleaner to survive.

“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.”

He said he was going to use the staggering amount of money to give his children a headstart for life.

“I am certainly going to pay off the mortgage and the other bills we have to begin with,” he said.

“We’re going to set up our kids for life.”

There’s a one in 134 million chance of a single ticket winning the $80 million jackpot.

An estimated one in four Aussies purchased a ticket for the draw.

In previous $80 million Powerball draws, ticket sales have peaked just after 5pm on the day of the draw, with more than 4000 tickets selling each minute.

Dr Stephen Woodcock, senior lecturer in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at UTS, previously told news.com.au the odds were not in your favour.

You’re more likely to be able to select two random Aussies and find both have been bitten by a snake in last year – an occurrence with a one in 62 million chance – than win the lottery, according to Dr Woodcock.

For women, you’re more likely to become pregnant with quintuplets, which comes with a one in 55 million chance, while finding two wild oysters both of which contain pearls would be a one in one million chance.

Dr Woodcock explained that for the initial seven balls, ticket holders have:

• a seven in 35 chance of matching the first ball drawn, then
• a six in 34 chance of getting the second, then
• a five in 33 chance of getting the third, then
• a four in 32 chance of matching the fourth, then
• a three in 31 chance of matching the fifth, then
• a two in 30 chance of matching the sixth, then
• a one in 29 chance of matching the first number

Even if you’re one of the lucky few to match these seven numbers, 95 per cent of punters usually fall at the last hurdle, as there’s only a one in 20 chance of your Powerball number being drawn, he said.