Powerball jackpot soars to record high

Aussies are holding their breath in the lead up to what will be the biggest-ever individual lottery win if just one person takes home Powerball’s entire $160 million jackpot on Thursday night.

With no division one winners declared during the past five Powerball draws, the $100 million jackpot prize skyrocketed to an unprecedented amount for draw 1380, resulting in the biggest prize ever offered by an Australian lottery game.

“Up to half of Australian adults were expected to have an entry into the draw, with the massive prize up for grabs this week,” Lott spokesperson Matt Hart said.

“While Australian lotteries have been operating for more than a century, there have only been nine draws that have offered a jackpot of $100 million or more, and this Thursday’s draw is the biggest of the lot,” Mr Hart said.

“If just one person takes home this $160 million prize on Thursday night, they’ll make history by becoming the nation’s biggest-ever individual lottery winner.

The previous record for Australia’s biggest lottery draw was a $150 million Powerball draw held in September 2019, where three individuals shared the jackpot.

“In 2019, a Sydney nurse became Australia’s current biggest individual lottery winner when she won more than $107 million,” Mr Hart said.

“While we’ve never had a $160 million Powerball draw before, if previous big jackpots are anything to go by, we can expect it to get busier and busier at lottery outlets and online leading up to Thursday night’s draw.

In the year ending June 2022, 16 Powerball division one winning entries across Australia pocketed more than $681.7 million in prize money.

Of those 16 Powerball division one winning entries, seven landed in NSW, four in Victoria, three in Queensland and two in Western Australia.

To be in with a chance, players will need to purchase an entry by 7.30pm AEST on Thursday.