Powerball's $100 million jackpot: Thursday night's winning numbers revealed

The numbers for tonight's eye-watering $100 million Powerball draw have officially been revealed, as millions of Aussies around the country desperately check their tickets and online entries to see if they've struck it lucky.

Up to half of Australian adults are believed to have purchased a ticket in the night's draw, after last week's whopping $60 million prize went unclaimed, bringing tonight's total to $100 million. It was the fifth consecutive week that nobody pocketed the division one prize.

Tonight's staggering sum is the sixth-biggest jackpot ever drawn in Australian lottery history and lottery officials claim that "thousands" of tickets were purchased "every minute" this afternoon.

Winning Powerball numbers unveiled

The last time Powerball offered a $100 million jackpot in January 2024, peak of sales at 5.46pm on the day hit 7,224 tickets in a single minute. The Lott officials anticipated similar figures tonight. Around the country, ticket sales closed at 7.30pm AEST.

The winning numbers for Powerball draw 1461:

Winning numbers: 13, 9, 1, 18, 12, 2, 14

Powerball: 3

If an individual pockets the entire prize, they'll share the title of Australia's second-biggest lottery winner ever. Anna Hobdell, spokesperson for The Lott, said only four other lucky Aussies know what it's like to score a Powerball prize of $100 million or more.

"Australia's biggest lottery winner was an inner Sydney nurse who scored more than $107 million in 2019. She initially thought she'd only won $107,000 and was flabbergasted to discover her real prize was 1,000 times more," she said.

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"And during the past 12 months, we've seen three people each score $100 million. First was a Bankstown dad who won in June last year, and then a Hawthorne woman and Singleton couple shared February's $200 million jackpot," Anna continued.

"These winners all had varied plans for their prizes, but there were some common themes, including enjoying long-overdue holidays around Australia and the world. Could Powerball crown its fifth $100 million winner this week? Only time will tell."

Stark reminder for Powerball hopefuls

Hobdell's sentiment is correct, only time will tell, however experts say no matter how lucky you're feeling on the day, it's extremely unlikely you'll ever win big. We'll wait to see if anyone has claimed the top prize, but nothing is guaranteed, as you're actually more likely to be struck by a meteorite.

As it turns out, the odds of you dying from a local meteorite, asteroid or comet impact are one in 1.6 million, according to the National Geographic — MUCH more likely than a Powerball win.

According to The Lott themselves, the chances of winning division one in Powerball, based on one standard game, are a vanishingly small one in 134,490,400. Ever heard that you're more likely to die on your way to go and buy a Powerball ticket than actually winning? Turns out it's true, especially if you're driving there.

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