One Jackpot-Winning Entry
The Australia Powerball winning numbers were 4, 11, 18, 20, 22, 26 and 33, plus the Powerball 9. There were over 3.8 million winners on the night, including 20 ticket holders who matched all seven main numbers to receive AU$94,792 each, but they narrowly missed out on a share of the jackpot for themselves after failing to land the Powerball number.
The jackpot winner, a mother in her 40s who has decided to remain anonymous, has overcome incredible odds of 1 in 134 million to scoop the nine-figure windfall. The jackpot hadn’t been won since 15th November of last year, allowing the top prize to reach AU$107 million following eight successive rollovers.
There was a significant delay with the announcement of the winning numbers for the second successive draw, meaning ticket holders faced an agonising wait of over half an hour to see if they had become an overnight multi-millionaire. This was only the second time the Powerball jackpot had reached AU$100 million, increasing in value following the draw for AU$80 million on Thursday 10th January.
“Wait – are you telling me I’ve won $107 million?!”
The winner bought her winning entry online from The Lott – an official lottery operator available in Sydney - and she received a telephone call from The Lott informing her of her incredible win shortly after the winning numbers had been revealed. The surprised winner was in a state of shock as she communicated on the phone, originally thinking she had won AU$107,000. The healthcare professional said down the line: “Oh my god, AU$107,000! That’s amazing! Wait – are you telling me I’ve won AU$107 million?! Oh my god! That is just so much money!”
She went on to say: “I won’t be retiring! I’m so passionate about my job. It will drive me to do more health work for causes important to me. I’ll be sharing it with my family. I’ll be giving my favourite charity some money! They’ll get a whole slab of money!” The jubilant winner added she hopes to buy a caravan with some her winnings, and also go travelling.
There was a significant delay with the announcement of the winning numbers for the second successive draw, meaning ticket holders faced an agonising wait of over half an hour to see if they had become an overnight multi-millionaire. This was only the second time the Powerball jackpot had reached AU$100 million, increasing in value following the draw for AU$80 million on Thursday 10th January.
The jackpot-winning ticket has become the second-biggest prize from any Australian lottery in history, surpassing the AU$100 million shared by two ticket holders from Melbourne and Sydney last August. It falls just short of the AU$111 million Lotto jackpot split between four ticket holders in November 2012. The jackpot will now automatically reset to AU$3 million ahead of the draw on 24th January.