One lucky Australian can become $100 million richer on Thursday, with the sixth-largest jackpot in lottery history up for grabs in Powerball.
The nine-figure sum will attract thousands of entries a minute at lottery outlets and online as punters dream of their future lives of luxury.
The odds of picking the seven numbers plus the Powerball may be 134 million to 1, but that won’t stop millions of Australians from risking their money.
The Sydney nurse who won a $107 million Powerball jackpot in 2019 has shared simple tips for the person who wins the jackpot.
‘If it is possible and you can bear it, get up the next morning and go to work. It gives you normality and allows the news to sink in little by little,” he said in 2021.
‘It takes two weeks for the prize money to arrive. I used those two weeks to hire a financial advisor I really trusted.
He added that winners should be careful who they tell.
“Only a handful of people know,” he said of his victory.
The previous Australian jackpot winner was a nurse (file image, not the actual winner) in Sydney, who urged this week’s lucky jackpot winner to take
‘Take some time to think about who you might tell before you start sharing the news with your family and friends, and let the story get out of the headlines first.
‘I have a small group of very loyal friends and you don’t know how people will react, but I haven’t received any negative response.
“If this news affects relationships in a negative way, then it’s probably time for that relationship to end anyway, and that’s just natural.”
She revealed that one of the few people she told about her life-changing victory was her boss, but that didn’t lead her to quit.
‘When I told my boss, she just grabbed me and gave me the biggest hug.
“I was really excited, but it was hard for me to tell him at first because you just don’t know what it’s going to be like.”
‘She was more worried about me leaving my job, but I told her I had to keep working.
‘Nursing is something that is in my DNA. I can’t not do it.’
Although she continues to live a modest life, the down-to-earth nurse said pleasure comes not from the big house or fancy cars that many dream of buying, but from small whims.
‘Being able to buy fresh flowers is a luxury. “It’s those little things that I don’t have to feel guilty about,” he explained.
‘I can now buy a better bottle of wine after having (previously) celebrated with a cheap bottle of chardonnay.
‘I love books and being able to go to a bookstore and buy any book I want is amazing. “These are things that I don’t take for granted,” he said.
The latest $100 million Powerball division one winning entry was sold at Nextra Chermside, Brisbane (pictured)
‘And having the possibility of traveling with children is incredible. We never thought we could afford to do that. “It was always out of our reach, so having those memories is priceless.”
In addition to these luxuries, the Sydney family purchased a new house and hoped that future generations would continue to live in it.
Over the last decade, Australians have pocketed $4.78 billion in Powerball division one prize money across 176 wins.
NSW and Victoria lead Queensland in premiership wins during that time frame.
But the lottery’s biggest individual winner was a South Australian man who received $150 million in May.
Lott spokesperson Anna Hobdell assured Australians that multimillion-dollar wins could appear anywhere.
“This $100 million Powerball jackpot is the largest prize offered by any Australian lottery game in more than three months, and we anticipate a huge rush across the country,” he said.
‘The last time Powerball offered a $100 million prize was in August, when peak sales occurred at 6:17 pm on drawing day, when 8,681 tickets were sold in a single minute.
“On that occasion, the entire $100 million prize was won by an Aspley woman who discovered the winning ticket in the glove compartment of her car.”
The Aspley woman almost lost her winning ticket after she bought it at Nextra Chermside and left it aside.
Nextra Chermside manager Cara Hickey described the sale of the latest $100 million Powerball ticket as an incredible experience.
The nine-figure sum will attract thousands of entries per minute at lottery outlets across the country and online as punters rush to snag a last-minute entry.
‘It’s been incredible. The buzz it has created among our customers has been incredible.
“Selling one of Queensland’s largest winning projects is something we are very proud of,” Ms Hickey said.
“With another $100 million prize on the line tonight, we can’t wait to see what happens and hopefully we’ll be a part of changing someone else’s life once again.”