5 Most Popular Lotteries to Play in Australia

September 10, 2018January 10, 2023 Kamal Kaur

As Aussies love to play and win Lottery here are the five most popular lotteries that are enjoyed by Australians.

From the first Grand Lottery back at the turn of the 19th century, right through to 2012’s record Oz Lotto jackpot of just under $112 million, Australian lotteries have enjoyed a fascinating history and jackpots that have captivated players for decades.

The biggest Australian jackpot won was the Oz Lotto draw of November 6th, 2012 where four winners shared a jackpot worth $111,972,151.04. Earlier also the Oz Lotto record jackpot was $106 million, won in 2009 and split by two winners.

The highest single-winner jackpot, meanwhile, was an Australian Powerball Lotto jackpot worth $40 million claimed by winner from Brisbane who opted to stay anonymous.

While the odds of hitting the Saturday Lotto are over eight million to one, back in 2009 a staggering 27 people managed to guess the same numbers (2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 23, Supplementary Numbers 26 and 41) and had to share in the winnings for Draw #2965 Saturday December 19, 2009).

Also in February 2015 news emerged of a syndicate of friends who managed to win two separate division one prizes worth $866,108 taking their combined winnings to over $1.7 million, or $157,474 when split between each of the 11 syndicate members.

There were three such incidents in 2013, with one man from Brisbane and two people from Melbourne managing to defy odds by winning the Saturday Lotto twice. The Brisbane man played his regular numbers after buying a ticket but then forgot whether or not he’d done so and therefore went back to play again. The result was two lots $820,000 – worth $1.64 million in total!

A woman from Melbourne managed to win two Saturday Lotto jackpots back to back to earn herself a total of $835,149.68. Also when informed of the second win by officials the woman claimed to have asked whether it was a hoax.

In April 2013 another story made headlines of a man from Melbourne who won the Lotto twice in the space of six weeks. The first win allowed him to help pay off the mortgage, the second half he earmarked for house renovations – all in all the man won $1.2 million.

In 2011 a syndicate of co-workers also won the lotto twice, in the space of just ten weeks. Whereas in 2008, another Victoria man, who wished to remain anonymous, made managed to achieve the impossible winning the Lotto three times in a row!

An interesting lotto winner story

Bill Morgan was a truck driver who had been living out of a caravan when he got caught in a severe traffic accident. In critical condition Morgan was given medication which caused a severe reaction, triggering a heart attack that left him clinically dead for 14 minutes.

He later spent 12 day in a coma before emerging – quite miraculously – with all his faculties intact and a newfound lust for life. He later proposed to his girlfriend, who accepted, leaving Bill feeling luckier than ever. So he decided to buy a scratch card…

When Morgan won a brand new car on the scratch card the local news decided that it would make a great human interest piece. So they asked him to re-enact the lottery purchase, which Morgan done, scratching off the ticket as before, only to win again, a massive $250,000 – all of it caught on camera!

The Monday, Wednesday and Saturday Lotto games were launched in the 70s. Today, in terms of rules, the Monday/Wednesday and Saturday Lottos are identical, only the Saturday Lotto offers higher jackpots. The nomenclature varies from state to state, however – with the games branded as Tatts Lotto in Victoria, ACT, Northern Territory and Tasmania, X Lotto in South Australia, Gold Lotto in Queensland and are simply referred to as the Monday, Wednesday or Saturday Lotto in Western Australia and New South Wales. In 1994 the Oz Lotto was launched offering Australia’s biggest jackpots, followed by the Australian Powerball Lotto in 1996. Here are these five most popular lotteries to play in Australia

1. Monday Lotto also known as Monday X Lotto (SA), Monday Gold Lotto (QLD) and Monday Tattslotto