‘Holy Sh*t’: Mystery $53m Lotto winner says he’s set for life
All Divison One winners are accounted for after the final missing Powerballer came forward to claim his $53 million prize.
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The record-breaking $160 million Powerball draw has taken place – and here are the winning numbers.
They were: 10, 4, 12, 18, 2, 34, 7, and the Powerball was 7.
Three lucky Australians matched all of the numbers and will split the jackpot, taking home $53,333,333.34 each.
The Lott has now found all three division one winners after a desperate 12-hour search to track down the remaining ticket holder from New South Wales.
The unsuspecting Sydney dad was found this morning, oblivious that lottery officials were hunting for a mystery multi-millionaire in the region.
The Penrith local didn’t believe the news at first.
“Really? Are you sure? Holy sh*t! This is amazing!” he told The Lott official, who confirmed his life-changing win.
“I told my family, “I think I might have won division one”, but no one believed me.
“Tell you what, they believe me now.”
The man, who bought the winning entry from TSG Cranebrook, said his family’s life had just changed “in a second”.
“It hasn’t been an easy time for us lately, so this is just incredible,” he said.
“To think I almost missed out on getting an entry into the draw. I had to rush out and grab one yesterday before the draw closed.”
“This means so much to me. I’ll finally be able to buy a home for my family, my kids can have whatever they want for Christmas, and we’re secure and set up for life.”
“Another of the three winners, a blue-collar worker from Clyde, southeast of Melbourne, burst into tears when told he won.
““Holy sh*t! Holy sh*t!” he told the Lott authorities when contacted about the win.
“Far out! I’m absolutely speechless.
“I never thought I’d get this phone call. This has changed my life!
“I can’t wait to tell my family!”
“My family is set! My grandson wanted a dog for Christmas and I was trying to organise it for him. He can have all the dogs in the world now!”
As for work, he’s done.
“I’m done with work. I’m out of here, mate. Retirement is calling’” he said.
“This is absolutely mind-blowing.
“I think I’m in shock, but this is incredible.”
One of the other winners may not even know they’re $53 million richer.
The lucky ticket holder, from Penrith in Sydney’s west, is yet to come forward and is unregistered, meaning lottery officials do not know their identity.
“Just imagine how more than $53 million might change your life and the lives of your closest family and friends. We can’t wait for them to discover this incredible news,” Lott spokesman James Eddy said.
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The other winner lives in Western Australia.
It also appears ‘7’ is the number for lottery punters to keep an eye after last night’s historic draw.
While statistically one of the most common numbers drawn, two sevens came up last night – including the elusive Powerball.
It was believed half of all Australian adults had a ticket in last night’s life-changing draw.
For a full prize breakdown, click here.
Thursday’s $160 million Powerball draw was the biggest prize ever offered by an Australian lottery game after a division one win eluded players for the last five draws.
The jackpot nudged past the previous $150 million record, which ended up being split between three winners in 2019.
The monster sum is so alluring, lottery officials were expecting half of all Australian adults to buy a ticket.
“While Australian lotteries have been operating for more than a century, there have only been nine draws that have offered a jackpot of $100 million or more, and this Thursday’s draw is the biggest of the lot,” The Lott spokesman Matt Hart said.
“If just one person takes home this $160 million prize on Thursday night, they’ll make history by becoming the nation’s biggest ever individual lottery winner.
“While we’ve never had a $160 million Powerball draw before, if previous big jackpots are anything to go by, we can expect it to get busier and busier at lottery outlets and online leading up to Thursday night’s draw.”
What are the chances of winning?
Firstly, to take home a division 1 win, you’ll need to get the numbers. All seven and the Powerball.
And on that front, the odds are long – 1 in 134,490,400.
A division 2 win, needing all seven numbers and no Powerball, is slightly more achievable, with the odds becoming 1 in 7,078,443.
Do you live in a lotto hotspot?
So far in FY22, 16 Powerball division one winners have taken home a total of $681.7 million.
Of those, seven were in NSW, four were in Victoria, three were in Queensland, and two were in Western Australia.
According to data crunched by lotto authorities, in the 12 months ending June 30, 532 division one winners in all lottery games shared more than $1.62 billion.
Victoria proved to be the hottest state, with 153 winners cashing in $467 million. Remarkably, the state took out the top spot for the sixth year in a row.
NSW and the ACT weren’t far off, with 141 division one winners collecting $464.8 million.
The data from Lott and Lotterywest also revealed the suburbs with outlets that sold the most division one winning entries.
Four division one winning entries were sold in the Frankston area.
Three each were sold in the Port Macquarie, Bundaberg/North Bundaberg, Rural View/Slade Point and Adelaide areas.
In Tasmania, the Launceston/Newstead area sold two winning division one tickets, while a store in the Berrimah area sold the Northern Territory’s only division one winning ticket.
The lucky Western Australian area south of Perth covering Hamilton Hill, Yangebub, and Spearwood saw five division one winning entries.
Recurring numbers
When it comes to Powerball, the most frequently drawn numbers – between 1 and 25 – include 17, 9 and 2.
And the numbers that seem to allude to the draw are 33, 31, 34, and 6.
What would you do?
We’ve all pondered it – would you keep working? What would you spend your money on first? Do you keep it a secret or sing it from the rooftops?
In 2019, a fortysomething Sydney nurse took home the nation’s biggest single lottery win of $107 million.
She chose to stay at work, seeking financial advice immediately to ensure her immense instant fortune was in safe hands.
She also took great care when considering who to tell about her incredible win.
“Take some time to think about who you might tell before you start sharing the news with your family and friends and let the story get out of the headlines first,” she said.
“If this news affects relationships in a negative way, then it’s probably time for that relationship to end anyway, and that’s just natural.
“Honestly, everyone we told was in tears; genuine, happy tears.”
A North Melbourne dad who took home an $80 million Powerball win last year, while in the middle of his sixth lockdown, had plenty of time to ponder his new fortune.
The foremost priority for the man, who was stood down from his cleaning job during the pandemic, was to erase his mortgage and set up his kids for life.
“I am certainly keen to pay off the mortgage and the other bills we have to begin with,” he said.
“We’re going to set our kids up for life. That will be an incredible thing to be able to do.
“I am going to try and help everyone.”
Originally published as ‘Holy Sh*t’: Mystery $53m Lotto winner says he’s set for life
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