Sydney factory workers hit jackpot with $40 million Powerball win
Fourteen Sydney factory workers have become instant multi-millionaires after a last minute decision to play Powerball paid off – literally.
Some of the winners were doing it so tough, they were asking for overtime to make ends meet and now, in a turn of fate, they are sharing just over $40 million between them.
Sandro Borsato works at the Campbelltown newsagent that sold the winning ticket and said the winners are – not surprisingly – ecstatic with their good fortune.
"What? $2.7 mil nearly each, over the moon I think they are,” he told 7 News.
The newsagent is thrilled to have helped change so many lives.
"Aw mate, they say Campbelltown's a lucky area, so yeah, very lucky can't believe it,” Mr Borsato said.
The ticket buyer said Thursday’s entry was 'out of the blue' and made on a spur-of-the-moment decision.
“I got a phone call last night after the draw from one of the syndicate members who asked me to check our ticket because he was sure we'd just won Powerball,” the syndicate leader told the Daily Mail.
“After I checked our ticket and saw that we had all the winning numbers, the phone calls were flying around – my phone was ringing like mad. Everyone was calling everyone about the win – it was crazy!
“I'm just so glad I've had the opportunity to share this unbelievable win with my work colleagues. We're all hard workers and we all put in long shifts at work to earn some extra money for our families.”
The chances of winning the jackpot were three million to one.
Several members of the group, who wish to remain anonymous, have said they will be retiring.
Other Campbelltown locals have given the new millionaires ideas of how to spend their money.
"Buy a boat, and not sail in it, park it in the harbor,” one man joked. “It's a good way to waste it."
"I would pay off my house, I would buy my kids, each one of them, a house. I would make this business bigger," a cafe owner said.
Another man said he would shout the whole bar a beer.
One lotto player from Western Australia also chose the six winning numbers minus the Powerball and won $23,429.
