$80m Powerball: What your name says about your chances of winning

With up to one-in-four Aussie adults expected to have an entry for Thursday’s $80 million Powerball jackpot, lottery officials have revealed the luckiest star sign of past lottery winners.

From the winning data collected from Powerball division one winners over the past five years, The Lott unveiled some key characteristics of previous winners.

Between 2017 and 2021, there were 76 Powerball division one winners across Australia who collected more than $2.21 billion.

Capricorns have enjoyed the most Powerball division wins, scoring 15.3 per cent of wins, closely followed by Sagittarians, Pisceans, Aquarians and Virgos – each with 12.8 per cent of all wins.

Meanwhile, people with initial “D” have taken home more than 10 per cent of Powerball division one prizes, while people with the initial “B” scored 8.19 per cent of the jackpots.

Luck was not on the side of the Quentins, Yvettes and Xaviers of the world, as there have been no winners with names starting with Q, U, V, X and Y.

Battle of the sexes: Luckiest gender when it comes to lottery wins

Men took home the crown for the most Powerball wins from The Lott’s data, scoring more than two-thirds of the individual division one wins.

Similarly, in 2021 lottery operator The Lottery Office found that men are 29 per cent more likely to hit the jackpot than women, with nearly half all men who bought tickets reported to have won at least one game.

When it came to the ages of previous Powerball winners, players in their 60s won the most major prizes, taking home 26.1 per cent of jackpots.

Players in their 50s came in second place, with 21.4 per cent of wins, while people in their 20s, 30s and 40s equally scored 11.9 per cent of wins during this time.

Of course, Powerball is a game of chance, so make of these figures what you will, but when it comes to location, New South Wales players had the most division one winners (27) and banked the most prize money – more than $812 million.

Queenslanders closely followed with 23 division one winners, who won more than more than $631 million.

Victorians came in third place, taking home 18 division one prizes to the tune of over $505 million.

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Be in it to win it

Regardless of whether you’re a Capricorn or your name is David, The Lott spokesperson Ally Ramsamy said that buying a ticket will give you an equal chance to win the $80 million Powerball prize.

“While it’s fun to delve into the history books and see the trends among previous division one winners, the only thing that’s certain is Powerball is a game of chance that surprises and delights with every draw,” said Ms Ramsamy.

Ms Ramsamy said that as we inch closer to Thursday night’s draw, Aussies will be dreaming about what they’d do with an extra $80 million in their bank accounts.

In terms of when entrants buy tickets, 4.43pm on Thursday was last year’s peak time, with more than 6,000 entries sold in a single minute.

Last year, Powerball reached $80 million on three occasions, with prizes landing in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia.

Entries into the $80 million Powerball draw, draw 1344, close at 7.30pm AEST on Thursday, February 17.

If gambling is a problem for you go to Gambling Help Online or call 1800 858 858.

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