Powerball has reached a whopping $80 million for next Thursday’s draw (26 March) after the winning numbers eluded Australian lottery players tonight.
For the sixth week in a row, no entry held all seven winning numbers and the all-important Powerball number needed to deliver division one and prompt screams of delight from a winner.
While no player scored tonight’s $60 million Powerball division one prize, a total of 1,479,132 prizes worth more than $26.18 million were won in divisions two to nine. This included 11 division two winners, who each take home $65,938.85.
Next week’s $80 million Powerball draw is only the sixth time in the game’s 24-year history that a jackpot of this size has been up for grabs.
An $80 million jackpot prize has only been won once previously, back in 2009 when it was shared by two division one winning entries – one each from New South Wales and Victoria.
If one person pocketed the entire division one prize next Thursday night, the Lott spokesperson Ally Ramsamy said they would go down in Australian lottery history.
“If we have just a single division one winner next week, it will be the first time a Powerball $80 million prize has been won by an individual,” she said.
“While we’ve certainly seen Powerball jackpots rocket all the way to $150 million, no individual winner has ever taken home an $80 million Powerball prize.
“If we have one $80 million Powerball winner next week, they will also become the third biggest individual lottery winner in Australia. They’d only be surpassed by a Sydney healthcare worker who scored a $107 million Powerball prize in January 2019 and a Chatswood Dad who scored a $96 million Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot prize in August last year.
“While we don’t know whether we will be breaking lottery records next Thursday, or watching the jackpot climb higher, what we do know is that you need to have an entry for your chance to win.
“We encourage all players who want a chance to score this massive prize to grab an entry early as we expect it to be busy instore and online in the lead up to next Thursday’s draw!”
In 2019, 14 Powerball division one winners across Australia pocketed more than $541.87 million in prize money. Of these Powerball division one wins, five landed in New South Wales, four in Queensland, three in Victoria and two in South Australia.
The numbers drawn tonight in Powerball draw 1244 on Thursday 19 March 2020 were 18, 1, 12, 10, 27, 20 and 11 and the Powerball number was 20.
The $80 million Powerball draw 1245 will take place on Thursday 26 March 2020.
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 268 so far this calendar year.
