With the hotly anticipated $100 million Powerball draw only days away Australian lottery players might be interested to know what entry types and numbers have helped previous Powerball division one winners take home the coveted prize.
After eight weeks of jackpotting, Powerball has rocketed to a mind-blowing $100 million for the second time in just five months. It’s the equal highest jackpot amount in Powerball’s 23-year history.
Despite no one taking home the division one prize last week, there were 15 division two winning entries that were just one number off winning the life-changing division one prize.
Spokesperson for the Lott Bronwyn Spencer said the only number the division two winning entries were missing was the all-important Powerball.
“Imagine getting all of the seven winning numbers from the main barrel, but missing out on the jackpot because you didn’t have that all Powerball number!” she exclaimed.
“While the division two winners did take home over $80,000 in prize money each, I am sure they are kicking themselves for not getting a PowerHit entry, an entry that guarantees you the Powerball number.
“Last year the Lott crowned 14 division one winners in Powerball, who took home $344 million. We found that PowerHit entries accounted for about a quarter of these 2018 division one winning entries.
“We also found that almost two-thirds were QuickPick entries, where the numbers were randomly generated by the lottery terminal.”
Ms Spencer also said those marking their Powerball entries might consider how they interpret the game’s ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ numbers.
“While Powerball is a random game of chance, and every number has an equal chance of being drawn, there are some numbers we have seen drawn out of the barrel more often than others.
“Players interested in trying their hand at choosing their numbers may mark ‘hot’ numbers in the hope they live up to their reputation of being drawn more often.
“Or would they choose to use ‘cold’ numbers in the belief their turn to be drawn is just around the corner?
“We’ve even had previous winners tell us they avoid both sets of ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ numbers, instead picking those numbers that aren’t getting any attention.”
For the main barrel, where seven winning numbers are drawn from 35, the ‘hot’ number is 32, having been drawn 13 times. (Table 1)
Table 1: ‘Hot’ winning numbers from past Powerball draws
| Winning number | 32 | 29 |
| Times drawn | 13 | 12 |
There are several numbers that have only been drawn four times during the same period (Table 2), the lowest of any number from the main barrel.
Table 2: ‘Cold’ winning numbers from past Powerball draws
| Winning number | 1 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 21 | 27 |
| Times drawn | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
For the separate Powerball barrel, where a single Powerball number between one and 20 is drawn, there are three numbers that have been drawn more than any other (Table 3).
Table 3: ‘Hot’ Powerball numbers
| Powerball number | 3 | 13 | 19 |
| Times drawn | 4 | 4 | 4 |
At the same time, there are several Powerball numbers that have never been drawn during the past eight months (Table 4).
Table 4: ‘Cold’ Powerball numbers
| Powerball number | 1 | 2 | 4 | 18 |
| Times drawn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ms Spencer said no matter which type of entry players chose, it was important they did get an entry and to get it early if they wanted a chance to win $100 million.
“With up to a third of adult Australians expected to get an entry into the draw and queues already forming outside lottery outlets we are encouraging those who are keen to get an entry to get in early and avoid the rush,” she said.
Powerball draw 1183 closes at 7:30pm AEST on Thursday 17 January 2019.
Tickets can be purchased at any licensed lottery outlet, online from thelott.com or via the Lott mobile app.
The Lott’s division one winning tally across all Australian lottery games has now reached 206 so far this financial year.
The sign of Australia’s Official Lotteries, the Lott operates and markets Australia’s leading lottery games customers know and love creating everyday winners, winning every day.
In the 12 months to 30 June 2018, 74 million winners took home a total of $2.7 billion in prize money from their favourite games which include Saturday Lotto, Monday and Wednesday Lotto, Powerball, Oz Lotto, Set for Life, Lucky Lotteries, Keno and Instant Scratch-Its.