Hard working Aussie dad scores $15 million Powerball win: 'Punch me'
A handful of Aussies have suddenly became multi-millionaires overnight.
Christmas has come early for a hard-working family man who won an astonishing $15 million in Thursday night's $30 million Powerball draw.
The NSW resident was over the moon when he learned that he held one of the two division one winning entries in draw 1439, with each entry scoring a life-changing $15 million.
The winning numbers were 2, 6, 22, 4, 30, 18 and 8. The all-important Powerball number was 2.
"Oh man! If you could reach through the phone and punch me so I know I’m not dreaming, that would be great," the new-found multi-millionaire told The Lott officials after learning of his mega win on Friday morning.
"Mate, I’m going to retire. I’ve been working hard, and I want to spend more time with the family," the Clarence Valley man said. "This is going to set my family up for the future."
In addition to winning division one, the winner’s PowerHit QuickPick entry also scored division two 19 times, bolstering his total windfall to $15,418,148.20. The man’s winning PowerHit QuickPick entry was purchased online at thelott.com.
Syndicate scores share of $15 million
Taking home the other grand prize was a syndicate of four lucky winners from Berwick, NSW who each claimed a share worth $3.7 million. They too were "speechless" after learning of their win.
One of the syndicate members confessed her heart was racing and was shaking after the enormity of her Powerball win was revealed by a lottery official this morning.
"Oh, my heart is going a thousand miles an hour. Don’t give me a heart attack! I’m too young for that. Oh my god, I don’t believe it. You don’t know how life-changing this is," the woman exclaimed.
The Berwick woman said she was going to use her share of the division one prize to buy a brand-new family home and help her children. "Happy New Year to me," she said.
388 division one winners this year
The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 388 so far in 2023, including 187 won by Tatts customers. In FY23, 21 Powerball division one winning entries across Australia pocketed more than $647.26 million in prize money.
During this time, Powerball offered a $160 million jackpot – the biggest prize ever offered by any Australian lottery game – that was won by three division one winning entries. Of the 21 Powerball division one winning entries in FY23, 11 landed in New South Wales, three each in Victoria and South Australia, and two each in Queensland and Western Australia.
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