A Smithfield man has confessed he had tears streaming down his face when he realised he was now $40 million richer from last week’s Powerball draw.
The New South Wales player held one of the two division one winning entries in Powerball draw 1301 on Thursday 22 April 2021. Each entry scored $40 million.
While his entry was registered to a player card, officials from The Lott had been unable to reach him as one of the digits in his phone number was incorrect.
“I didn’t know I’d won!” he exclaimed when his prize was confirmed this morning.
“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!
“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!”
When asked how he might enjoy life as one of Australia’s newest multi-millionaires, the small business owner shared he was looking forward to making some plans.
“I still can’t believe it,” he laughed.
“I always thought a couple of million dollars would be good, but this is seven or eight times that amount!
“I’ve still turned up to work this week.
“I’ll pay off the mortgage and go from there!”
The man purchased his PowerHit entry from Dublin Street Newsagency, Shop 2 66 Dublin Street, Smithfield.
Dublin Street Newsagency owner Thuy Nguyen said he was thrilled his winner had been united with their multi-million-dollar prize.
“This is the first time we’ve ever sold a division one winning entry and it’s a $40 million prize, so it’s better than we could’ve imagined!” he said.
“We’ve been waiting to make one of our customers a division one winner and it’s great we now have.”
The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1301 on Thursday 22 April 2021 were 35, 26, 10, 17, 31,19, 21. The all-important Powerball number was 1.
Across Australia, there were two division one winning entries in Powerball draw 1301 – the two entries from New South Wales.
The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 347 so far this financial year, including 93 won by NSW Lotteries customers.
In 2020, 14 Powerball division one winners across Australia pocketed more than $470.1 million in prize money.
In 2020, Powerball twice offered an $80 million jackpot – the biggest prize offered by any Australian lottery game during the year.
Of the 14 Powerball division one winning entries in 2020, six landed in Queensland, five in New South Wales and three in Victoria.
