Powerball is a lottery operated by New South Wales Lotteries in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Tattersalls in Victoria and Tasmania, Golden Casket in Queensland, the South Australia Lotteries Commission, and Lottery West in Western Australia.
Few Facts
- The first Australian Powerball draw was held on 23 May 1996, and the game’s format has only changed once throughout its history.
- On 1 March 2013, new regulations were introduced requiring players to match more numbers from a smaller ball pool to secure the top prize. Earlier, players had to match five numbers from 1 to 45 and one Powerball number from 1 to 45 to win the jackpot.
- The new format means that players must now match six numbers from 1 to 40 and one Powerball number from 1 to 20 to win the jackpot. The result of the new format means that the overall odds of winning a prize in the Australia Powerball have increased from 1 in 120 to 1 in 78.
- The format has resulted in bigger jackpots as once the top prize reaches AUD$10 million, a minimum of AUD$10 million is added to the jackpot prize pool with each rollover.
- The largest Powerball jackpot to date reached AUD$80 million after eight consecutive rollovers. The record-breaking prize was finally won on 30 July 2009 and shared between one ticket holder from Victoria and another from New South Wales.
- The Powerball draw is held every Thursday at 8:30 pm AEST (entries close at 7:00 pm the same night). Six numbers are plucked from a pool of 40 balls, and a seventh number – the Powerball – is drawn from a separate barrel of 20 numbers. Since this unique number is pulled independently from a separate pool, it can potentially be the same value as one of the first six.
How to play Powerball
Playing the Australian Powerball can be done in many ways. Players who reside in Australia can participate by purchasing their tickets in a local lottery retailer or online. Players living in New South Wales can log in to http://www.nswlotteries.com; persons living in Queensland can browse on http://www.goldencasket.com for people in South Australia http://www.salotteries.sa.gov.au, Western Australia http://www.lottery.wa.gov.au, and players in Victoria and Tasmania https://www1.tattersalls.com.au.
In Australian Powerball, all players must first select six main numbers from a selection of 1 – 40 and then an additional Powerball number from a range of 1 – 20. All seven numbers drawn (six main numbers plus the additional Powerball number) must be matched to win the jackpot. However, if players don’t entirely manage to do that, several other consolation prizes are available to win.
You can select your numbers individually or opt for a Quick Pick, in which all your numbers are generated randomly.
Powerball Prizes
Australia Powerball offers a minimum top prize worth AU$ 3 million and seven other prizes. Here are the odds of winning on a single play in each of the eight divisions:
To win a Powerball prize, you must match at least three numbers. This results in eight different ways to win:
- Division 1 – Six main numbers and the Powerball
- Division 2 – Six main numbers
- Division 3 – Five main numbers and the Powerball
- Division 4 – Five main numbers
- Division 5 – Four main numbers and the Powerball
- Division 6 – Three main numbers and the Powerball
- Division 7 – Four main numbers
- Division 8 – Two main numbers and the Powerball
The chances of winning at least the eighth division are 1 in 110. This compares favourably to other major lottery games in Australia – for instance, the lowest division in Saturday Lotto returns at 144 to 1. However, the nature of this format makes it very difficult to win the Division 1 prize; the odds of a single ticket hitting all seven numbers are nearly 1 in 77 million. The largest ever Powerball jackpot was hit in July 2009, when multiple winners split a total prize of AUD 80 million.
Powerball Tickets
You can play this lottery online, regardless of where you are, through the internet. You should be 18 + years of age and have to register to submit your ID documents as required. The Online Ticket Concierge service works by you selecting which numbers you want to play in this lottery, and then your ticket will be purchased for you on your behalf in Australia. Once you have registered with the service, you will be able to buy tickets for the Australian Powerball game, and these will be available to view as a scanned copy within 24 hours of the completion of your purchase.
Powerball games must be purchased four times, meaning a single ticket consists of four gameplays. While players can buy tickets individually, many creative ways exist to purchase multiple games or join groups to buy more tickets.
Types of tickets
Standard Ticket
This is a regular purchase, in which you may choose to pick your numbers or have them randomly selected for you. A single standard game costs $1.05, and players may purchase as many tickets as they wish.
Syndicate Ticket
This group play option allows you to buy a share – or several shares – in one or more Powerball lotto tickets. If any of these tickets ultimately wins, the prize money is distributed equally for each share.
You can play anonymously with randomly generated Lotteries Syndicate games or in a Social Syndicate with friends, family, co-workers, or anyone you wish to be a stakeholder. This is a great way to partake in an extensive system without risking thousands of dollars every week.
System Ticket
In a system play, you purchase tickets covering every possible combination of six numbers plus the Powerball for a specific group of numbers.
For instance, in System 10, you will play the equivalent of 210 standard games, each covering a different sequence of the 10 numbers in your system. Prices start at just under $8 for a System 7 and rise to over $40,000 for a System 20, equating to 38,760 standard games.
PowerHit
This particular type of system game covers every possible Powerball, from 1 to 20. This ensures that you will hit the Powerball on one of your tickets, so you only have to worry about matching at least two of the remaining five numbers to the correct Powerball value. PowerHit prices range from $21 (seven standard games) to over $19,000 (over 18,000 standard panels).
Super Combo
This comes between a standard Powerball Quick Pick ticket and a system play. In a super combo, you will play many combinations of a set group of numbers, but not enough to cover every combination. The Super Combo 9A takes nine numbers and mixes them up in 30 games, giving you many ways to win with those numbers. A Powerball Super Combo can cost between $30 and just over $500.
Powerball tickets can be purchased over the Web online or at a retail outlet. You can choose from all the most prominent national lottery brands, including Powerball, Oz Lotto, Lucky Lotteries, Super 66, and Soccer Pools. You can also buy lotto tickets via mobile on iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry devices, and most other smartphones and tablets.
Whether you play mobile Powerball or you prefer to purchase tickets on PC or Mac, all cash transactions are entirely safe. The sites use state-of-the-art 128-bit SSL (Secure Socket Layer) digital encryption to protect your data and support only trusted AUD banking methods such as Visa, MasterCard, Diners Club International, PayPal, and BPay.
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