Powerball $200m draw: What players are made to do after winning
Tonight's jackpot is the biggest-ever in Australian history, with an astonishing $200 million up for grabs.
Powerball jackpot hopefuls are flocking to their local newsagents to purchase tickets in Australia's richest ever lottery draw, with a staggering $200 million up for grabs tonight.
Eclipsing 2022's $160 million draw, which ended up being split three ways, tonight's jackpot is likely to see at least one lucky Aussie walk away with a truely life-changing sum.
Thousands of tickets are being sold "every single minute" as record numbers rush to beat the 8.30pm (AEDT) deadline. While you're far more likely to die from being struck by an asteroid (in fact even on the way to buy a ticket), people are overlooking the massive odds against them and taking their chance to scoop the enormous jackpot.
But if you are lucky enough to win Powerball, there are actually a few hoops you'll need to jump through before you start spending your cash. The first one being patience.
Powerball winners won't pocket cash for weeks
Speaking to Yahoo News, a spokeswoman for the Lott confirmed that those who bag the top prize will need to wait two weeks before they're distributed their winnings, a safeguard put in place to ensure people don't "rush their decisions".
"Division one, top prize and first prize lottery winners receive their prize two weeks after the initial draw date," she said. "A two-week provisional period is given to ensure winners don’t rush through their decisions and have enough time to complete their prize claim process with us. If a player wins a major prize on a ticket purchased in-store, they’ll have to either visit our prize payments office or mail the prize claim in.
"If the player is registered to an online account or players card and win a major lottery prize, they’ll receive a phone call from our dream delivery team and written correspondence to confirm the win."
In addition, winning Aussies will also be referred to a financial planner to receive "professional advice from relevant stakeholders" in an attempt to ensure they don't blow their load, so to speak.
"We always encourage our division one winners to reach out to professional associations such as the Financial Planning Association of Australia for financial advice," the spokeswoman explained. "All major lottery winners receive a booklet within their congratulatory kit with information to point them in the right direction.
"We want all of our lottery winners to use their prize to its full potential and receive the necessary professional advice from relevant stakeholders."
If you think you've won big tonight you'll find out pretty soon, the spokeswoman said, with winners earning over $60 million guaranteed a call within 20 to 30 minutes. Any less than that however, and you'll have to wait. "Other winners would expect to receive a winning phone call from us in the morning the next business day," she said.
Don't lose your ticket, The Lott warns
In the worst case scenario however, that you win but lose your ticket, things will be slightly harder.
“There is a lost and found ticket process where basically they need to provide significant details about the ticket – where they bought it, how they bought it, how they paid for it – only details a ticket holder would know,” The Lott's Matt Hart earlier explained.
“Then we will have to launch an investigation and that could take weeks to confirm they really are the ticket holder. It’s best just to hold on to your ticket.”
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