A mum from Sydney’s eastern suburbs has confessed she almost didn’t buy the Powerball entry that scored her $50 million because of the city’s relentless rain last week.
The New South Wales entry was the only division one winning entry in Powerball draw 1296 on Thursday 18 March 2021.
The multi-million-dollar winning entry was not registered to a player card, which means officials from The Lott had no way of contacting the winner and had to wait for them to check their ticket.
Over the weekend, the Sydney woman checked her ticket and discovered she was the mystery winner officials from The Lott had been searching for.
“I am in complete shock! This feels like a dream,” she laughed.
“The weather has been absolutely crap and so I wasn’t even going to buy a ticket because I didn’t want to go out. I also thought there’s no way I would be the winner.
“But at the last minute, I had to duck out so I thought I would try my luck.
“Then yesterday I checked the winning numbers because I heard someone had won from the outlet I bought a ticket at.
“I couldn’t believe it when I realised I had all the winning numbers! I ran straight to my husband and said, ‘Christ, I think we’ve won $50 million!’.
“He checked the ticket and we both went into a state of shock.
“It’s thrown everything upside down in the best possible way. It’s a dream come true!
“There’s no way I will sleep until I see the money in my bank account. Even then, I don’t think I will sleep! This is far too exciting.
“We are still trying to get our heads around it. It’s so hard to comprehend that we’re multi-millionaires.
“It’s going to drastically change our lives. It’s crazy, completely crazy!”
When asked how she planned to enjoy her prize, Australia’s newest multi-millionaire said she already had a few ideas.
“It’s certainly going to make life easier. It’s going to help us all so much,” she explained.
“We will look after our family first. I am sure they will have some things they want to do with the prize.
“And there’s going to be lots of shopping sprees! I love shopping, so I can’t wait!
“And we might get a new house too, who knows!
“Tonight, we will be having some champagne and order take away. There’s no way I am cooking! Although I don’t even know if I will be able to eat, I am too excited.”
The winning entry was purchased at CTC Eastern, 730A Anzac Parade, Maroubra.
CTC Eastern owner John Yu said he was thrilled for his winning local customer.
“How amazing for our customer! I’m so happy it’s someone from the local area,” he exclaimed.
“We’ve had such a busy weekend. Everyone we saw we were telling them to check their tickets and telling them to tell their family and friends to check their tickets.
“We couldn’t be happier for our winner and hope she truly enjoys it. We pass on our congratulations to her.
“This is the first division one winning ticket we’ve ever sold. Fingers crossed this is the start of a winning streak and we can sell some more major prizes to our customers.”
The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1296 on Thursday 18 March 2021 were 18, 30, 16, 29, 6, 33 and 35. The all-important Powerball number was 4.
Across Australia, there was one division one winning entry in Powerball draw1296 – the entry from New South Wales.
The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 311 so far this financial year, including 81 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.
