With $100 million up for grabs in tomorrow night’s Powerball draw, Australian lottery players may be keen to discover the entry types and numbers that have helped previous Powerball winners take home the coveted prize.
The mind-blowing $100 million Powerball prize is the second-biggest division one jackpot ever offered by an Australian lottery game.
Despite no one taking home the division one prize during the past seven weeks, there have been 38 Powerball division two winning entries that were just one number off winning the life-changing division one prize.
The Lott spokesperson Lauren Cooney said the only number these division two winning entries had missed 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 Powerball number!” she exclaimed.
“While the division two winners did take home tens of thousands of dollars 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.
“Each week we’ve seen the number of division two winners climb – all on the cusp of becoming multi-millionaires.”
Winning Powerball states
“So far this year, there have eight Powerball division one winners who have pocketed more than $316 million. This includes the record $107 million winner from Sydney in January this year,” Ms Cooney said.
“New South Wales and Victoria have both had three division one wins, while South Australia has had two. The other states and territories have yet to score a Powerball division one prize, but perhaps tomorrow night is the night.
Table: The states where the Powerball wins have landed so far this year
| State | 2019 Powerball division one wins | Total division one prize money |
| New South Wales | 3 | $164,521,259.50 |
| Victoria | 3 | $74,666,731.77 |
| South Australia | 2 | $77,602,912.57 |
| Total | 8 | $316,790,903.84 |
Winning Powerball entries
“Of the eight Powerball division one winners so far this year, there has been an even split between those who won by marking their entry with their special numbers and those who won with a QuickPick entry, where the lottery terminal randomly chose the numbers,” she said.
“Interestingly, more than a third of this year’s division one winning entries were 25-game entries.
“A quarter of the winning entries were Powerhit entries, a special kind of entry unique to Powerball that guarantees the all-important Powerball number that you need to win division one.”
‘Hot’ and ‘cold’ numbers
Ms Cooney 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,” she said.
“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 17, having been drawn 23 times during the past 16 months. (Table 1)
Table 1: ‘Hot’ winning numbers from past Powerball draws
| Winning number | 17 | 2 |
| Times drawn | 23 | 20 |
There are several numbers that have not been drawn as often from the main barrel during the past 16 months, including the number 12. (Table 2)
Table 2: ‘Cold’ winning numbers from past Powerball draws
| Winning number | 12 | 26 |
| Times drawn | 6 | 9 |
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 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
At the same time, there is one Powerball number that has never been drawn during the past 16 months – the number 1. (Table 4).
Table 4: ‘Cold’ Powerball numbers
| Powerball number | 1 | 18 |
| Times drawn | 0 | 1 |
No matter which type of entry players chose, Ms Cooney said 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 to avoid the rush,” she said.
Powerball draw 1217 closes at 7:30pm AEST on Thursday 12 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 260 so far this calendar year.
In the 12 months to 30 June 2019, more than 108 million winners took home more than $3.28 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.
