Want to win $80 million? How to prepare for tonight's Powerball jackpot draw

Whether it’s a waterfront mansion, a luxury sports car or a no-expense-spared trip around the world, there’s every chance you’ve already started planning how you’d spend the $80 million jackpot on offer in tonight’s Powerball draw.

And with an estimated one-in-three Aussie adults set to enter the draw, punters are set to welcome any slight advantage on offer.

How to play Powerball

To win division one, and get a chance at claiming the $80m, you need seven winning numbers and the Powerball.

Division two winners need seven winning numbers while division three requires six and the Powerball.

There are nine divisions in total with the odds increasing down to the lowest division.

What are the hot and cold numbers?

For the main barrel, where seven winning numbers are drawn from 35, the ‘hot’ number is 32, having been drawn 13 times in the past eight months.

Conversely there are several numbers that have only been drawn four times during the same period.

Numbers 1, 10, 11, 12, 21 and 27 haven’t been too lucky in recent draws.

From the Powerball barrel, numbers 3, 13 and 19 have all been the most successful, each drawn four times in the past eight months.

Most successful entry types

Last year, 14 division one winning entries took home a combined total of $344 million in Powerball prize money.

Of these entries, almost two-thirds were QuickPick entries, where the numbers were randomly generated by the lottery terminal.

The remaining entries were marked entries, where the ticket holders had chosen the numbers themselves.

Almost one-in-four of the winning entries were PowerHIT entries, a special type of entry that guarantees the all-important Powerball number needed to win division one.

“The current Australian record for the biggest division one win by a single entry was a massive $70 million Powerball prize won by a Hervey Bay couple in 2016,” the Lott spokesperson Matt Hart said.

Where can I buy a ticket?

You can buy Powerball tickets at most news agencies around Australia.

If you’re running short on time, they can also be purchased online or via the Lott app.

When does the draw close and where can I watch it?

Powerball draw 1182 closes at 7:30pm AEST tonight, with those keen to try their luck urged to do so as early as possible.

The draw will be broadcasted on 7TWO shortly before 9pm, while the numbers are also made available on the Lott’s social media channels.

If you want to check the results, they are normally posted by 9pm with the dividends for each game following the draw.

Players can also check your ticket online, in-store or scan it using the Lott app.

What are my chances of actually winning?

The chances of winning the division one prize in Powerball is a staggering 134,490,400 to 1. Meanwhile an Australian has a one in 12,000 chance of getting hit by lightning, according to News Corp.

This means you’re more than 11,000 times more likely to be struck by an electrical bolt from the sky than win Powerball.

Previously, Yahoo News found drowning in a bathtub (1 in 840,000 chance), being killed by a flying asteroid (1 in 700,000) and getting crushed by a vending machine (1 in 10 million) were all more likely than scoring the Powerball division one prize.

Apologies for the brutal reality check.