News writer
It took seven years and a minor oversight, but a group of coworkers in Australia have finally hit it big playing the lottery together — winning AU$30 million in the Australian version of Powerball.
Not their normal routine
The group of workmates in Western Australia, which consists of 15 men and women, have been playing the lottery together for seven years. However, an error helped lead to this big win.
They usually play the weekly Saturday Lotto, but one of the coworkers forgot to purchase the ticket. Instead, they went out on a whim and bought the Australian Powerball ticket, and boy, did it pay off.
One of the coworkers told news.com.au:
We all put money into a kitty and I buy a Saturday Lotto ticket every week, plus one for any jackpots of AU$50m or more.
However, the coworker realized they forgot to buy their regular weekly Saturday Lotto ticket. They said they were thinking of the grief they were going to get when they went to work on Monday, so they had to do something.
What was the fix? “I saw that Powerball was at AU$30m and bought a ticket for that instead on a whim,” the coworker said.
The big Australian Powerball win
Despite Powerball not being their regular lottery game, the group of coworkers made the best of the situation. The winning ticket, which was purchased at the Malaga Newsagency, ended up matching all of the winning numbers to win the AU$30 million jackpot.
The winning numbers for that October 24, 2024, drawing were 1, 5, 8, 9, 14, 22, and 33, and the Powerball number was 2. The ticket purchaser told officials:
We should never have had a ticket for this draw.
Despite that, the coworkers, who are aged between their 30s and their 60s, will now each get AU$2 million from the Powerball win.
The group recently headed to the Lotterywest Winners Room to claim their prize. The man who bought the winning ticket says he plans on retiring early and going caravanning around the country with his wife.
Meanwhile, the other coworkers said they plan on helping their children, visiting family overseas, or booking their dream holidays.
Lotterywest spokeswoman Zoe Wender said in a statement:
It was incredible welcoming this group of 15 winners into the Lotterywest Winners Room and seeing how ecstatic they were. This is a life-changing win for this group of workmates, and how fantastic that they are sharing the joy of winning together.
Powerball in Australia
While we are familiar with Powerball here in the United States, it works a little differently in Australia.
To play in Australia, players need to select seven numbers from 1 to 35 and one Powerball number from 1 to 20. The drawings take place every Thursday night after 7:30 p.m. AEST.
Powerball in Australia has nine prize divisions. To win Division 1, which is the jackpot, your ticket needs to match all seven of the winning numbers drawn plus the winning Powerball number. However, you can also win by matching as little as two of the winning numbers plus the Powerball number in a single game.
Enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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