One lucky Australian may become $100million richer on Thursday, with the sixth-largest jackpot in lottery history up for grabs in Powerball.
The nine-figure sum is set to draw thousands of entries per minute at lottery outlets and online as punters dream of their future life of luxury.
The odds of picking the seven numbers plus the Powerball may be 134 million to 1, but that will not stop millions of Aussies putting their money on the line.
The Sydney nurse who won a $107million Powerball jackpot in 2019 shared straightforward advice for the person who does hit the jackpot.
‘If it’s possible and you can stand it, wake up the next morning and go to work. It gives you normality, and it allows the news to slowly sink in,’ she said in 2021.
‘It takes two weeks for the prize money to come through. I used those two weeks to engage a financial adviser who I really trusted.’
She added winners need to be careful about who they tell.
‘Only a handful of people know,’ she said of her win.
The winner of Australia’s former biggest jackpot was a nurse (stock image, not the actual winner) in Sydney who urged the lucky winner of this week’s jackpot 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 just don’t know how people will react, but I haven’t had any negative responses.
‘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 win was her boss, but it didn’t lead to her resignation.
‘When I told my boss, she just grabbed me and gave me the biggest hug.
‘She was so thrilled, but it was hard for me to tell her initially because you just don’t know how it’s going to go.
‘She was more worried about if I was going to quit my job but I told her I needed to keep working.
‘Nursing is something that is in my DNA. I can’t not do it.’
While continuing to live a modest life, the down-to-earth nurse said the pleasure does not come from the big house or fancy cars many dream of buying, but the little indulgences.
‘Being able to buy fresh flowers is a luxury. It’s the little things like that, that I don’t have to feel guilty about,’ she explained.
‘I can buy a nicer bottle of wine now after (previously) celebrating with a cheap bottle of chardonnay.
‘I love books and to be able to go into a bookshop and buy whatever book I want is amazing. It’s things like that that I don’t take for granted,’ she said.
The last $100million Powerball division one winning entry was sold at Nextra Chermside, Brisbane (pictured)
‘And having the ability to travel with the children is incredible. We never thought we’d be able to afford to do that. It was always out of reach for us, so to have those memories is priceless.’
As well as these luxuries, the Sydney family bought a new home, and hoped that future generations would continue to live in it.
In the past decade Australians have pocketed $4.78billion in Powerball division one prize money across 176 wins.
NSW and Victoria lead Queensland in division one wins over that time span.
But the biggest individual lottery winner was South Australian man who received $150million in May.
The Lott spokesperson Anna Hobdell assured Australians multi-million dollar wins could pop up anywhere.
‘This $100million Powerball jackpot is the biggest prize offered by any Australian lottery game in more than three months, and we do anticipate a huge rush across the country,’ she said.
‘The last time Powerball offered a $100million prize was in August when the peak of sales was at 6.17pm on the day of the draw when 8,681 tickets were sold in a single minute.
‘On that occasion, the entire $100million prize was won by an Aspley woman who discovered her winning ticket in her car glovebox.’
The Aspley woman almost lost her winning ticket after she bought it from Nextra Chermside and set it aside.
Nextra Chermside manager Cara Hickey described selling the last $100 million Powerball ticket as an incredible experience.
The nine-figure sum is set to draw thousands of entries per minute at lottery outlets across the nation and online as punters rush to snap up a last-minute entry
‘It’s been amazing. The buzz that it has created with our customers has been nothing short of incredible.
‘Selling one of Queensland’s biggest winning entries is something we’re very proud of,’ Ms Hickey said.
‘With another $100million prize up for grabs tonight, we can’t wait to see what happens and hopefully we’ll be a part of changing someone else’s life once again.’
