A man has relived the “heartbreaking” moment he narrowly missed the big prize ahead of this week’s $100 million Powerball jackpot, as a lottery expert reveals why he should ditch the lucky numbers from the calendar .
Sunshine Coast resident Rob Brodie, 57, thought he had won the division one prize in March 2020, but later discovered he was just single digits away from sharing the $80 million jackpot with another winner.
The tenant told him yahoo the number he needed was 12, but he had 11, which meant he took home just over $15,000 instead of a whopping $40 million.
Sunshine Coast dad Rob Brodie, 57 (pictured), came very close to winning $40 million but was missing a number – he chose 11 and the number 12 came out.
The father went to bed thinking he had won the main prize, but the next morning he realized that not only had he not won the first division, but he had also missed out on the second division prize.
Brodie said he is still “losing sleep” over almost winning the jackpot, which would have had a huge impact on his life.
“To this day, I often think about how close I came and how heartbreaking it was,” he said.
“This would have allowed me and my two children… to have a very comfortable life.”
Although the Sunshine Coast dad had a Powerhit entry, guaranteeing him the Powerball number needed to win, he only matched six of the seven numbers.
Mr Brodie thought he had won the top prize and went to bed expecting a call from The Lott in the morning.
When the phone didn’t ring, the father thought he would still win a second division prize, which five other contestants won and received $188,000 each.
Lott spokesman Matt Hart said people should avoid picking their favorite calendar dates, since everyone does this. If you win, you’ll most likely have to split the prize. People will be able to choose up to 35 for the main numbers and up to 20 for the Powerball
Thursday’s jackpot is $100 million, the third largest prize offered by any Australian lottery game in 2024. It is also the sixth largest prize in Australian lottery history, according to The Lott.
Because division two requires all seven numbers to be chosen without needing the Powerball, the father “only” won division three, which requires six main numbers plus the Powerball.
The father said that instead of being able to help his six siblings if he had won the $40 million, he spent his unexpected $15,000 to help his son buy his first car and gave a large portion of it to his daughter.
The “unluckiest” lottery winner has been a sailor in the merchant navy for 30 years and still rents out his three-bedroom house.
If you’re lucky enough to pick all the winning numbers, but don’t want to split the prize with others, The Lott spokesperson Matt Hart revealed his top tip: Don’t use calendar dates.
“In any lottery game, we often see more division one winners when the numbers drawn are 31 or less, and that’s because many people mark their entries with family birth dates, etc.,” he said. yahoo.
‘On the other hand, if there are a couple of numbers above 31, then we don’t see many top division winners for the same reason. It is also not unusual for numbers greater than 31 to appear.’
Although Brodie said he was hesitant to buy a ticket for the $100 million jackpot, for Australians eager to try their luck, Hart said there are “hot” and “cold” numbers.
“They change all the time, but the most recent information shows that for the main barrel, where seven numbers are drawn from one to 35, the most frequent are 17, seven, three and nine,” he said.
‘While the least drawn are 31, 33, 15 and 26.’
When it comes to the actual Powerball (a number bettors must choose between one and 20), two and four are the favorites, while 14 and 16 are the least likely to be drawn.
