Powerball jackpot goes off, with NSW couple and Brisbane woman sharing record $200 million prize
By Hanan DervisevicSome lucky Australians woke up as multi-millionaires on Friday morning after sharing a record-breaking $200 million lottery draw on Thursday night.
It was the biggest jackpot in Australian history, with the Western Australia lottery commission estimating half of the Australian adult population bought a ticket.
Here's what we know about the winners and the very, very slim odds they gambled on.
Did anyone win the $200 million jackpot?
Yes, two ticket-holders won division one.
- A couple from Singleton in the NSW Hunter Valley
- A Queensland woman from the Brisbane suburb of Hawthorne
Each ticket is worth $100 million.
How do we know who won?
The company that runs the lottery put out a media release announcing the winners from Singleton, although it didn't name the couple to protect their privacy.
The woman found out their life-changing news from bed on Thursday night and said it was a "lot of money to fathom".
"I just had a look a moment ago and I instantly went 'oh my god'," she told the company.
"I mean you joke about winning but never expect it to happen to you.
"Well, I absolutely won't be working anymore! I mean, honestly, do I really need to?
"My partner is here with me now. He's a bit in shock. He loves his job, so I don't know if he'll be retiring."
The couple's 50-game QuickPick entry ticket was purchased online.
The other winner, a Queensland woman from the Brisbane suburb of Hawthorne, didn't know she won until 6am Friday — almost 10 hours after the draw.
Her winning ticket was unregistered, meaning officials had to wait for her to check the ticket and come forward to start the prize claim process.
"Oh my god. Is this even real?" she asked when officials confirmed the win.
"It was an early wake-up call when I decided to pull my ticket out at 6am to check it while getting ready for the gym.
"I scanned the ticket on the app and all the winning numbers immediately lit up and I saw that I'd won $100 million on my phone."
What were the odds of winning the jackpot?
The chances of winning the division one prize in Powerball are more than 134 million to one.
You are more likely to be struck by lightning multiple times than win Powerball.
Loading...Mathematician and author Adam Spencer broke down how likely or unlikely you are to win the jackpot.
"First of all, you have to get seven correct out of 35," Mr Spencer said.
"That is a one in 6.8 million chance. If you get through that hoop, you then have a one in 20 chance of getting the final ball.
"The total odds are one in 134 million."
Here's an example he provided to further clarify the odds.
"Let's say you live in Sydney or Melbourne, where the population is about five and a bit million.
"Think of a random person in all of Greater Melbourne. You would have to guess that person and the letter of the alphabet they are randomly thinking about.
"You marry those together and you've got your one in 134 million."
So many tickets were sold … did that affect my odds of winning?
No.
"Your individual ticket is no more or less likely to win tonight than it was last week," Spencer said before the draw.
"The fact that the prize pool has gone up and more people are buying a ticket increases the likelihood you may have to split that prize."
Did any other Australians win big?
There were 22 division two winners, who will each take home a prize of just over $177,000 each.
These winners were just one number shy of taking home the multi-million-dollar prize.
What is the highest Powerball jackpot in Australia?
The $200 million Powerball is the largest prize in Australia's lottery history.
It pipped the $160 million jackpot in 2022 which was shared between three people.
There were 20 Powerball division one winning entries worth more than $552.15 million across Australia last year.