Powerball to deliver more winners and bigger jackpots

Exciting changes to one of Australia’s most popular Lotto games, Powerball, will launch today set to also make it the nation’s most powerful.

Lotterywest CEO Susan Hunt PSM said three changes would be made to the Powerball game which will deliver bigger jackpots and more overall winners.

Ms Hunt said the changes were based on research conducted alongside national lottery partners to enhance the game features that players most enjoy and are attracted too.

“We’ve responded to what our players are looking for and these are higher level jackpots and the chance to win a prize a more often,” Ms Hunt.  

“History has shown that more players will participate in the game as the jackpot amount gets bigger, which is what we hope to see following these game changes.”

A change to the game matrix means Powerball will now be played by drawing seven winning numbers from 35 in barrel A, currently six balls from 40. The Powerball will still be drawn from a second barrel of 20 balls.

The number of prize divisions will increase from eight to nine, improving the odds of players winning a Powerball prize.

“The introduction of division nine will improve from 1 in 78 to 1 in 44, making it the best odds of winning a prize across all Lotto games,” Ms Hunt said.

The final change is a price increase from 85 cents per game to $1.10 (plus retailer commission) which will help support prize levels across the Powerball’s nine divisions.    

Tickets in the new Powerball are now available from Lotterywest in-store, online or through the Lotterywest app.

When you play with Lotterywest a majority of the funds spent on tickets go back to the people of WA through prizes and grants.

Last financial year this totalled $440 million shared amongst WA winners and over $265 million given to support the WA community.

As Powerball is a national game, these changes have been decided by all members of the Australian Lotteries Bloc and are effective in all States and Territories.

The first Powerball draw to incorporate these exciting changes will be Draw 1144 on Thursday 19 April 2018.

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