A Castle Hill man has taken a moment to realise the enormity of his $40 million Powerball win tonight, initially mistaking it for a $40,000 prize.
The New South Wales player held the only division one winning entry nationally in Powerball draw 1561 on Thursday 16 April 2026.
In addition to the $40 million division one prize, the man’s PowerHit entry also scored him division two 19 times and other divisional prizes, bolstering his total win to $40,812,146.60.
The unsuspecting winner was watching the footy at home– proudly supporting Manly – when he received a call from an unfamiliar number immediately after the draw.
“When the phone started ringing, I thought it was random so didn’t answer,” he said.
“But then I got your text, so I glanced at The Lott app. At first, I thought I’d won $40,000. It actually took a little bit of time to compute. Then I realised it was $40 million.
“This is quite surreal. It’s crazy – it’s very crazy. I’m in shock!
“I never win anything! But I have to admit, when I put this ticket on this afternoon, I thought I just might win.”
At that moment, the man’s wife entered the room, and he asked the lottery official to break the news to his wife.
“Are you f***ing serious?! Woo Hoo!” she screamed.
The winning man added: “My wife’s wearing a red shirt and her face has gone the same colour. I’ve never seen that before.”
“We generally joke about winning. We always talk about how we could spend it if we won but then think we’ll never win, ever. ” he said.
“We’re going to get a new house, a new car and a beach house. And we might not work ever again,” his wife added.
The winning marked PowerHit entry was purchased via The Lott app – the official home of Australia’s lotteries.
The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1561 on Thursday 16 April 2026 were 27, 13, 15, 19, 14, 3 and 7. The all-important Powerball number was 18.
Across Australia, there was one division one winning entry in Powerball draw 1561 – the entry from New South Wales.