As Aussies dream about how the rest of their life might look with a $150 million Powerball payday, their attention is turning to what entry types might help them score tomorrow’s record-breaking jackpot.
Up to half of all Australian adults are expected to have an entry in tomorrow’s $150 million Powerball draw – the biggest prize ever offered by an Australian lottery game.
While every entry offers the chance to take home the coveted division one prize, the Lott spokesperson Bronnie Spencer said some players might not realise there are different types of Powerball entries.
“Different entry types offer different chances of winning and have had varying track records of making overnight multi-millionaires,” she said.
“The chances of winning division one in Powerball with a single-game entry are about 1-in-134 million, but it’s important to note, players hold more than one game on their ticket and this increases their chances of winning,” she said.
“For example, the chances of winning Powerball with a common 12-game entry is about 1-in-11 million. The Sydney woman who currently holds the record for being Australia’s biggest individual lottery winner, after scoring $107 million in January, won division one with this exact entry type.”
QuickPick or marked entry
Ms Spencer said your chances of winning a Powerball division one prize were statistically the same regardless of whether you marked your entry or the lottery terminal randomly selected numbers for you – provided it was the same sized entry.
“So far this year, we’ve seen eight division one winners across the nation pocket more than $316 million. Of these, we’ve had an even split between QuickPick and marked entries,” she said.
Size of the entry
Ms Spencer said the more games on your ticket, the more chances you had of winning.
“Each standard game, represented by a row of numbers on your ticket, gives you a chance to win. The smallest entry you can get in Powerball is a 4-game entry,” she explained.
“Interestingly, more than a third of this year’s division one winning entries have been 25-game entries.
“Time and time again we’ve seen fairly modest-sized Powerball entries take home the division one prize. It goes to show that you don’t need a big entry, you just need an entry for the chance to win.”
The power of the PowerHit
“PowerHit is a special type of entry unique to Powerball that guarantees the all-important Powerball number. Remember, you do need the Powerball number to win division one,” Ms Spencer said.
“During the past eight weeks, we’ve had 46 division two winners. These players had all the winning numbers, but not the Powerball number. If just one of these players had purchased a PowerHit entry, they would be multi-millionaires.
“The PowerHit entry also has good form for creating multi-millionaires. A quarter of Powerball division one winners this year held PowerHit entries.
“While the PowerHit entry may only look like one line on your ticket, players should remember that this type of entry is actually twenty games which consist of the same seven numbers but each game has a different Powerball number from one to 20.
“This means if you do score the division one prize, you will also snag division two a massive 19 times which would bolster your prize dramatically.
“This is exactly what happened to one happy winner in July when Powerball reached $110 million. His PowerHit entry scored him not only a division one prize of $36.60 million but 19 division two prizes as well, boosting his total prize was over $37.60 million.”
Other special entry types
“Many players might not realise there are other special entry types that could increase their chances of winning, including System and Pick entries. Some of these are larger entry types that are ideal for syndicates of family members, friends and workmates,” she said.
“A System entry allows you to pick more numbers from the main barrel of 1 to 35. For example, a System 10 entry gives you every seven-number combination of those ten numbers. There’s even a PowerHit System entry that not only allows you to pick more numbers from the main barrel, but also guarantees the Powerball number.
“Another entry people may not be aware of is the Pick entry, which guarantees you either one or two of the winning numbers.”
Regardless of which entry you opt for, Ms Spencer said it was important to have that entry in your hands before the draw’s close tomorrow night if you want the chance to win the $150 million Powerball prize.
Powerball draw 1218 closes at 7:30pm AEST on Thursday 19 September 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 263 so far this calendar year.
In the 12 months to 30 June 2019, 10 Powerball division one winners across Australia pocketed more than $398.5 million in prize money.
During this time, the biggest individual Powerball prize was $107,575,649.08, which was won by a Sydney healthcare worker on 17 January 2019. Her windfall set a new record for Australia’s biggest individual lottery winner.
Victoria and New South Wales each enjoyed three division one wins, while Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania each scored one.
The home 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 2019, more than 131.8 million winners took home more than $3.3 billion in prize money from their favourite games at the Lott, including TattsLotto, Monday and Wednesday Lotto, Powerball, Oz Lotto, Set for Life, Lucky Lotteries, Keno, Super 66, Lotto Strike and Instant Scratch-Its.
In the 12 months to 30 June 2019, Australia’s Official Lotteries contributed more than $1.4 billion via state lottery taxes and donations to help community initiatives, such as hospitals, health research, disaster relief and education.