Powerball rolls over to yet another $100 million draw – so why are we seeing more big jackpots?
If you felt the Powerball jackpot was now routinely hitting $100 million, you wouldn't be wrong.
Aussies will have the chance to play for the country's joint-fifth biggest lottery prize in history next week as the Powerball jackpot rolled over to $100 million.
There were no division one winners in Thursday's $50 million draw, with the top prize set to double for next week's draw.
Two players were agonisingly close, missing just the Powerball as they matched seven of the eight required balls. They both took home just shy of $430,000 each.
The Lott spokesperson Matt Hart said next week's draw is only the eighth time in Powerball's 28-year history that a $100 million prize will have been offered.
“If just one player wins the entire jackpot, they’ll not only receive a massive boost to their bank account, but they’ll also share the crown of Australia’s second biggest individual lottery winner ever," he said.
The numbers for Thursday's draw were 30, 2, 5, 25, 16, 32 and 34. The all-important Powerball number was 7.
Why are Powerball's jackpots so big in recent years?
All of the previous $100 million Powerball jackpots have come in the past five years and it's no coincidence the rise in big jackpots has coincided with a rule change that undoubtedly boosts the coffers of the lottery.
In 2018 Yahoo detailed the shift, which saw the addition of an extra ball making it almost twice as hard to scoop the Division One prize.
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As the jackpots rose, so did the fanfare, with all eyes on the prize. Hart regularly predicts such jackpots prompt half of Australia's adults to buy a ticket – a quite staggering amount and one far greater than if the jackpot returned to the low millions.
According to The Lott's estimations, this would mean the draw will bring in at least $57.2 million from roughly 10.6 million people based on the cost of the minimum requirement of four games to participate.
If on average there were 20 games per person, the equivalent number of tickets in a PowerHit entry, Thursday's draw would turn over $285,569,840. The Lott has previously remained tight-lipped on the exact number of tickets it sells.
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