After seeing his entry had scored the entire $40 million prize in tonight’s Powerball draw, a Cairns healthcare worker admitted all he could think of to celebrate was to take a shower.
The Far North Queensland player held the only division one winning entry nationally in Powerball draw 1227 on Thursday 21 November 2019.
In addition to winning division one, the winner’s PowerHit entry also scored division two 19 times, bolstering his total prize to $40,430,542.90.
So far this year, 13 Powerball division one winners have pocketed more than $517.5 million.
When a Golden Casket official made contact with the winner immediately after the draw tonight, the stunned Queenslander admitted he had already checked his ticket and seen the lifechanging result.
“I won’t be able to sleep tonight!” he laughed.
“I thought I would check my ticket before bed. I was quite calm. I knew I had some of the numbers and thought I might have won division six.
“Then I had another look and thought ‘no, you b******s are wrong!’. I had a look again. Then I went and had a shower.”
The winner credited his beloved cat for alerting him to the confirmation call from Golden Casket.
“It feels fantastic. It’s still very hard to accept, but you’ve rung me now so it must be true,” he said.
“Actually, when the phone rang, my cat ran over to the phone. She never does that. I was really surprised. That’s why I answered the phone.
“It’s hard to believe only one person won it and that one person is me!
“It’s amazing. You dream about these things but when it happens you don’t believe it.”
The regular Powerball player was equally shocked by the fact he had also won division two 19 times, all thanks to his PowerHit entry.
“That’s amazing! I thought with a single PowerHit entry you just got one prize. I never thought you could win so many times,” he exclaimed.
“This is just a random QuickPick. I’m so grateful to my favourite newsagent!
“I’ll be sharing this with my family. I will buy a new house and go on holidays. I think I’m going to retire early too.”
The happy man, who wishes to remain anonymous, purchased his winning PowerHit entry at newsXpress Edge Hill, Shop 1, 139 Collins Avenue, Edge Hill.
newsXpress Edge Hill owner Maxine Hare couldn’t contain her excitement at one of her customers becoming an overnight multi-millionaire.
“Oh my god! I won’t sleep tonight!” she said.
“That’s really good. I’m so happy for it to be one of our regulars.
“We’ve had the shop for about 16 years and this is the sixth division one we’ve sold. We’ve sold a division one winning entry in all the games now, except for Oz Lotto. So that’s what we’re aiming for next!
“Congratulations to our winner. We wish them all the very best!”
The numbers drawn tonight in Powerball draw 1227 on Thursday 21 November 2019 were 1, 12, 3, 2, 25, 13 and 23 and the Powerball was number 1.
Across Australia, there was one division one winning entry in Powerball draw 1227, the entry from Queensland.
The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 336 so far this calendar year.
In the 12 months to 30 June 2019, 10 Powerball division one winners across Australia pocketed more than $398.5 million in prize money.
During this time, the biggest individual Powerball prize was $107,575,649.08, which was won by a Sydney healthcare worker on 17 January 2019. Her windfall set a new record for Australia’s biggest individual lottery winner.
Victoria and New South Wales each enjoyed three division one wins, while Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania each scored one.
During this time, the biggest individual Powerball prize was $107,575,649.08, which was won by a Sydney healthcare worker on 17 January 2019. This prize set a new record for Australia’s biggest individual lottery winner.