A Canberra man in his 30s has won the entire $50 million Powerball jackpot. And it's the second time someone in the ACT has won $50 million in one go. The first time was in May 2015, when a woman won the entire jackpot.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The man who won this time said he didn’t sleep a wink on Thursday night after checking his online entry before bed and discovering he was the sole division one winner from Australia from the night's $50 million Powerball draw.
The winner was “dumbfounded” and “can’t get the smile off his face”, a Powerball spokesman said, adding he understood the man "did not make it into work today".
His marked 7-game online entry was the only division one winning entry in last night’s Powerball draw, number 1151, on Thursday.
Thursday’s winner is the 10th Powerball division one winner so far this year. These 10 winners have taken home $171 million.
The man was also one of more than 1.26 million winners from across all nine divisions in Thursday’s Powerball draw who collectively pocketed more than $72.38 million.
When an official made contact with the winner on Friday morning, the man confessed he already knew the life-changing news, having checked his entry after the draw.
“I haven’t slept a wink,” the man said.
As for what he intends to do with his $50 million fortune, the man said he would first need to let the enormity of his win to sink in.
“I’m dumbfounded. I can’t get the smile off my face.”
The man’s win is the second largest by an individual Australian entry so far this year.
The record for the largest Powerball win claimed by a single entry in Australia was set in 2016 when one ticket bought in Hervey Bay won $70 million in Powerball draw 1025.
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought his online entry via OzLotteries.com.
Thursday night's winner of the $50 million was the largest prize ever won by an OzLotteries customer.
The winning numbers in Powerball’s $50 million draw 1151 on Thursday were 34, 30, 14, 32, 22, 24 and 23. The all-important Powerball number was 9.
Powerball will offer a $3 million division one prize in next week’s draw.