Mathematics Expert Shares Strategy for Powerball Jackpot

Millions of Australians are anticipating Thursday night's $100 million Powerball draw, with a mathematics expert clarifying the only way to improve one's chances of winning the substantial jackpot. The prize has escalated to $100 million after no ticket matched the winning numbers in the previous draw, setting the stage for the largest Powerball prize in over a year.

The odds of a single ticket holder winning the jackpot stand at one in 134.5 million. Should a single ticket win, it would represent Australia's third-largest lottery prize on record.

Professor John Croucher, a mathematics expert, stated that the only method to enhance winning prospects is to purchase more tickets. "There's nothing else you can do to increase your chances," Croucher told the Daily Mail on Tuesday, adding that "there's no other strategy." He suggested that selecting less common lottery numbers could decrease the likelihood of having to share a jackpot, as popular number combinations, such as sequential numbers or those ending in the same digit, are more frequently chosen by players.

Croucher emphasized that choosing less common numbers does not alter the fundamental probability of winning. He also cautioned against placing undue importance on past lottery results, explaining that each number has an equal chance of being drawn in any given draw, regardless of its previous appearance. "The machine has no memory, so like a poker machine, it has no memory of what happened before and everything starts afresh," he stated.

Historically, the number nine has been the luckiest Powerball number since the game's current format began in 2018, appearing 103 times. It is followed by 17, drawn 102 times, and seven and 11, each appearing 101 times. However, these statistics do not influence future draw probabilities.

Despite the long odds, many Australians continue to purchase tickets. In May 2024, an Adelaide man became Australia's largest individual lottery winner after claiming the entire $150 million Powerball jackpot. He purchased his winning ticket opportunistically and, remarkably, continued to work the following day. He described his excitement upon discovering the win, recounting how he checked two tickets, one of which yielded nothing, while the second revealed the $150 million prize.

He plans to use the winnings to assist family and friends, purchase a house, and travel the world. Meanwhile, a $100 million Powerball prize from a ticket purchased at Bondi Junction Newsagency in Sydney in June 2025 remains unclaimed. Officials noted that the winner's failure to register the ticket prevented direct contact. Grace Martino, a cashier at the newsagency, speculated that the winner could have been a transient customer, a backpacker, or a tourist.