What would you do with $100 million?
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That's the question many will ponder for Thursday night's Powerball draw which has tipped into nine figures for the first time this year.
It is the sixth time in the 27-year-history of Powerball that a prize has climbed as high as $100 million.
Despite the odds of winning merely one in 134 million, almost half of Australian adults will buy a ticket in the draw.
Economist Jason Murphy has dug through the data to find ways to optimise the chances of winning.
"Choosing numbers that other people are not choosing reduces the chance you end up splitting the pot," he said.
"The simplest single choice for Powerball is to make your Powerball a rarely chosen number - my research suggests 1 is chosen least."
Powerball data shows that from the main barrel, where seven winning numbers are drawn from 35, the most frequently drawn numbers are 17, 7, 9, 2 and 28.
The numbers 31, 33, 34, 15 and 6 rarely make an appearance.
From the separate Powerball barrel, where a single Powerball number is drawn from 20, the most frequently drawn numbers are 3 and 19, while the least popular numbers are 14 and 16.
"But the only strategy that works is buying more tickets," Mr Murphy said.
"You can't beat the house. If you must play, buy the fewest tickets that still let you fantasise about winning."
So far in 2023, there have been eight division one winning entries that had collectively won more than $154 million.
Three of these wins have landed in NSW, two in South Australia and one each in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia.
IN OTHER NEWS:
In January 2019, a Sydney nurse took home the largest ever Powerball win of $107 million.
The Lott spokesperson James Eddy said at 5.38pm on the day that Powerball was drawn, 5,500 tickets sold in one minute.
"If just one person scores the entire $100 million prize on Thursday night, they'll not only receive a substantial boost to their bank account just in time for the new financial year but also be crowned the second biggest Australian lottery winner ever," he said.
"The idea of winning this life-changing jackpot is sure to get Aussies dreaming big this week."
