Powerball: Results, numbers, Thursday night draw produces winner who takes home $80m jackpot
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Powerball has finally gone off and the $80 million jackpot is going to just one lucky ticketholder.
However, lottery officials say they have been unable to contact the winning person because of incomplete contact information.
The Lott spokesperson Lauren Cooney said it’s possible someone in Victoria is going to sleep completely unaware they won tonight’s entire $80 million Powerball jackpot and suddenly became the state’s biggest lottery winner and Australia’s third-biggest lottery winner.
“Imagine going to bed tonight not knowing you’ve just won $80 million? That’s the reality for one Victorian player after scoring division one in tonight’s Powerball draw!” she said. “While the Victoria entry was purchased online, unfortunately, we don’t have their complete contact details, so we are unable to make a mind-blowing phone call to them this evening.
“That is why we are encouraging everyone in Victoria to check their entries because they may be the multi-millionaire we are searching for!
“While we are unable to confirm the win with tonight’s winner, we can guarantee that when they discover the news, it’s sure to be met with a hefty mix of shock and excitement,” she said. “In addition to seeing the massive $80 million prize land in their bank account, this player also shares the title of Victoria’s biggest individual lottery winner and Australia’s third-biggest lottery winner.”
The lucky person managed to get all the numbers right.
Those numbers were 17, 10, 4, 26, 19, 23, 21 and the Powerball was 7.
An estimated one in four Aussies purchased a ticket for thedraw.
No-one picked the winning numbers last week, causing the $60 million prize money to jackpot to $80 million.
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.
However, a leading mathematician has warned that the odds are not in your favour.
“It’s like putting icing on a very improbable cake,” Dr Stephen Woodcock, Senior Lecturer in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at UTS, told news.com.au.
Dr Woodcock said there is a one in 134 million chance of a single ticket winning tonight’s $80 million jackpot in the Powerball lotto draw.
To win the jackpot, you need to match all seven main numbers plus the Powerball. The probability calculator works like this. 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 will fall at the last hurdle, as there’s only a one in 20 chance of your Powerball number being drawn, Dr Woodcock told news.com.au.
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, according to Dr Woodcock, a senior lecturer in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney.
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.
“There’s always hope, particularly in a year like this, there’s no reason not to hope for better,” Dr Woodcock said of picking the winning numbers. “But there’s a difference between hoping and expecting.”
The mathematician revealed that he has never purchased a lottery ticket in his lifetime.
The odds of winning division one in Powerball with a standard 12-game QuickPick are one in 11.2 million, according to The Lott.
That is the same entry type that a Sydney mum held in 2019 when she took home $107 million and became the country’s biggest individual lottery winner.
Thursday night’s $80 million jackpot is the equal largest lottery so far this year, with another $80 million prize snapped up back in April.
The prize was split evenly between two NSW residents who received $40 million each.
A man from Smithfield in Sydney’s west claimed the $40 million prize in April, but nearly lost the money because he’d put in the wrong mobile number.
“I checked my ticket on the weekend. Oh my god. My heart was jumping out of my body. It was pounding. Even now it’s racing,” the winner told The Lott.
“I’d heard there was another Powerball winner they were trying to contact. I even said to my friend, ‘We’ll never win, only old people win.’
“They said you’d been ringing but I didn’t get a call. There was a digit wrong on my mobile number.
“When I saw I’d won, I had tears running down my face.
“It’s a big win. It’s a big whirlwind.”
Numbers most likely to win
The Lott’s Matt Hart said: “While Powerball is a game of chance, and every number has an equal chance of being drawn, some numbers have been drawn more often than others.”
He revealed the “hot” and “cold” numbers from the last three years.
From Powerball’s main barrel, where seven winning numbers are drawn from 35, the ‘hot’ number is 17, having been drawn 49 times during the past three years.
Seven also ranked highly, being drawn 43 times in that same amount of time.
However, other numbers have barely been pulled out of the pot.
These “cold” numbers are 34, which has only been picked 24 times – so half as many times as 17.
Fifteen also didn’t rank highly, only being drawn 25 times in the last several years.
For the separate Powerball barrel, where a single Powerball number between one and 20 is drawn, there are two numbers that are standouts since 2018.
The number 19 has been drawn 16 times while three has been chosen 13 times.
In contrast, 18 and eight haven’t been too lucky.
Those numbers have only been drawn four and five times respectively.
Last week the winning numbers were 16, 25, 12, 7, 11, 10, 21 and the Powerball was 18.
