Powerball jackpot surges to $60 million as $9 billion Aussie lotto milestone nears

The Powerball jackpot has surged to $60 million after no one claimed the coveted $40 million prize on Thursday.

This marks the fourth consecutive week without a major win, however, two entrants will be taking home Division 2 prizes of $369,858.25 each.

Tonight’s winning numbers in Draw 1566 were 33, 16, 15, 13, 29, 32 and 1, with the all-important Powerball number 6.

The top prize requires a perfect match of 7 winning numbers plus the Powerball.

That puts the odds at 1 in 134.5 million.

Powerball pushing toward $9 billion milestone

If tonight’s $40m draw had of been won, it would have pushed Powerball’s total prize money tally beyond $9 billion.

Since the game’s conception on May 23, 1996, 587 division one winners have taken home $8,975,858,948.18 between them.

The Lott spokesperson Matt Hart said Powerball is no stranger to breaking records, and hoped the game’s 30th anniversary would see another milestone reached.

“Powerball has created some of the most memorable moments in Australian lottery history,” he said.

“It holds the record for the biggest jackpot — a $200 million prize drawn on February 1, 2024, and shared by two players. On the day of the draw, sales peaked at 5.20pm, with 9,630 tickets sold in a single minute.

“Powerball also created Australia’s biggest individual lottery winner — a South Australian man scored $150 million in May 2024.

“For millions of Australians, Powerball has ignited countless hopes and dreams, and delivered some truly life-changing moments. That could happen again tonight, and see the game surpass a whopping $9 billion in division one prize money.”

Already this year, Powerball has crowned eight division one winners, who have collected $205 million in total.

Four of those winners were in NSW, three were from Victoria and one was in Western Australia.

Last year, Queensland and Victoria proved to be the luckiest states for Powerball, with seven division one winners each.

Tasmania was the unluckiest state, with no major prize wins.

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