While the game was modeled after the incredibly successful American Powerball, there are actually a fair number of differences involved in the game play and payouts. Each game of Powerball costs $0.85 plus an agents commission, and depending on the state the game or games are purchased in, you may be required to purchase 4 or more at a time. To fill out a game, players choose six numbers for the first section and subsequently of course, a Powerball number. If a player chooses to automatically fill in games, a computer fills in the six winning numbers as well as the Powerball draw.
On the Thursday night of the drawing, two barrels are used for drawing the winning numbers, one for each section of a players ticket. The first barrel holds forty balls, six are chosen at random. The second barrel holds twenty, all potential Powerballs, only one is chosen as in America. For a player to be deemed a division one winner, they must match all 6 numbers from the first barrel and the Powerball.
The overall odds of the game are better than the Saturday Lotto because of the division system. Rather than automatically winning with a correct Powerball, for a player to win the lowest pay-out in Australia, they must have chosen two winning numbers from the first barrel and the correct Powerball. The odds of this turnout are 110:1 for each game. Players can opt for a ticket sometimes referred to as a “Powerpik” or “PowerHit”, where they are guaranteed the correct Powerball. This “Powerpik” or “PowerHit” costs the same price as 20 regular games.
In Australia, jackpot wins are very rarely shared between multiple winners, and instead of the prizes optionally being annuitized, every winner is paid with the whole lump sum. Also, lottery players in Australia are lucky that these winnings are one-hundred percent tax free.
The largest Australian Powerball Jackpot was on July 30, 2009 and eventually had multiple winners, splitting the $80 Million lump sum. This was the largest potential jackpot in all Australian Lotto until the Oz Lotto rose to a whopping division one prize pool of $100 million. On January 7, 2016 a division one prize pool of $70 million was won by a single ticket holder from Queensland in the Australian Powerball. Other large Powerball jackpots include a split winning of $70 million between two tickets on August 21, 2014 and in they year of 2015 two single ticket jackpots of $50 million each. Instead of fixed rate non-jackpot prizes as used in the American Powerball, the Australian Powerball non-jackpot prizes are parimutuel, which simply means that the prize pool is divided amongst the winners according to their various stakes.
In all, Australian Powerball is strikingly similar to the American version, but the small details that have been changed really might just make the difference in hitting it big.
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