A Latrobe Valley man has walked away with a $20 million Powerball jackpot after making a split-second decision to buy a ticket less than a minute before Thursday night's draw closed — with gaming officials confirming the timestamp on his online entry shows he beat the deadline by just 35 seconds.
The Last-Minute Powerball Purchase That Changed Everything
The Victorian winner, who does not regularly play Powerball, said he spotted the $20 million prize on offer and decided on a whim to have a go. He logged on and purchased his ticket online, with the entry recorded at 7:29:25 pm — a mere 35 seconds before the draw closed.
"We don't normally play Powerball, but tonight I saw it was $20 million and thought I'd have a crack at that and have a bit of fun," he said after the win was confirmed. "I bought the ticket with about a minute to go."
Rather than using a QuickPick, the man chose his own numbers — a combination of family birthdays and a handful of random selections. The winning numbers for Powerball draw 1578 were 27, 6, 35, 17, 11, 15 and 26, with the Powerball number coming up as 11.
He was the sole division one winner across the entire country, meaning the full $20 million prize goes to him alone.
A Stunned Winner With Big Plans
The man said the reality of his windfall had not yet sunk in, with his wife struggling to believe the news was genuine. "I can't believe it. My wife is asking me if it's real," he said.
Despite the disbelief, he already has ideas for how to spend and manage the money. "It's a life-changing moment," he said. "I reckon an around-the-world trip is called for and after that some investment strategies to set the family up for the future."
A Big Week for Australian Lottery Winners
The Powerball windfall follows another major lottery result earlier in the week, when two players shared Oz Lotto's $40 million jackpot on Tuesday. Remarkably, one of those winners also had a close call — he was held up at work and only made it to the newsagent a couple of minutes before it closed.
"I struggled to get to the newsagent. I was late from work and got there in time — a couple of minutes before closing," that winner said.
The back-to-back stories of near-misses turning into life-changing wins has captured the attention of lottery players around the country, serving as a reminder that fortune can hinge on the smallest of decisions made at the very last moment.
