As the Powerball jackpot soars to a staggering $150 million for next Thursday’s draw after no player matched all the required numbers tonight, anticipation is building across the nation. It’s the sixth consecutive draw without a division one winner.
This historic prize marks the largest jackpot since February 2024 and ranks as the third largest in Australian lottery history.
While no entries scored the division one prize in tonight’s $100 million Powerball draw, a total of 3,197,881 prizes worth more than $64.37 million were won in divisions two to nine.
Amongst these winners, there were 10 division two winners, who each took home a prize of $179,059.50. These winners were just one number shy of taking home the multi-million-dollar prize.
The Lott spokesperson Anna Hobdell said she was sure Aussies across the nation would be counting down the days to next week’s phenomenal $150 million Powerball draw.
“It's undeniable that the prospect of winning a share of the $150 million division one prize will captivate the attention of countless Aussies in the coming days as excitement continues to build,” she said.
“We expect a surge in lottery outlets and online as we approach Thursday night’s multi-million-dollar draw, with up to half of Australian adults expected to have an entry into the draw.
“We’ve only seen Powerball offer $150 million on two previous occasions. In 2019, three division one winning entries shared the prize, while earlier this year, the jackpot wasn’t won and the prize climbed higher.”
To illustrate the level of excitement surrounding the upcoming draw, Ms Hobdell highlighted the peak sales during this week’s $100 million Powerball draw was at 6.44pm when players secured 7,980 entries in just one minute.
“We were ready and willing to call any registered division one winners in the $100 million Powerball draw on Thursday night, but no player held all the seven winning numbers and the all-important Powerball number needed to score division one,” she said.
"Registering tickets to a player card or online account enables us to promptly contact any division one winner after the draw, should they strike it big next Thursday night.
"Could we witness history if a single player claims the entire $150 million Powerball prize? Only time will tell!”
The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1461 on Thursday 16 May 2024 were 13, 9, 1, 18, 12, 2 and 14. The all-important Powerball number was 3.
The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 362 so far in FY24.
In 2023, 20 Powerball division one winning entries across Australia pocketed more than $552.15 million in prize money.
During this time, a Bankstown dad scored a $100 million jackpot and became the second-biggest Australian lottery winner of all time.
Of the 20 Powerball division one winning entries in 2023, eight landed in New South Wales, seven in Victoria, two each in South Australia and Western Australia, and one in Queensland.
