- Father missed division one and two prizes by one digit
- Expert says to avoid picking calendar dates
- READ MORE:Struggling Australian family win $4million lottery prize
By Lisa Edser For Daily Mail Australia
Published: | Updated:
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14 View commentsA man has relived the 'gut-wrenching' moment he missed out by one digit on winning $40 million on the lottery - as people across the country prepare to choose their numbers in Thursday's $100M Powerball jackpot.
Sunshine Coast resident Rob Brodie, 57, thought he had won the first division prize in March 2020 but then discovered he was in fact one digit away from sharing in the $80m jackpot with one other winner.
The renter told Yahoo he got the Powerball and six of the seven numbers, but he needed an 11 as the final number and it came up as 12.
That meant he took home just over $15,000 instead of a whopping $40m; something that still has him up at night wondering what might have been.
Sunshine Coast fatherRob Brodie, 57 (pictured) was painfully close to winning $40m but was missing one number - he chose 11 and the number 12 was drawn
The father went to bed thinking he had won the main prize, but the next morning he realised not only did he not win division one, but he also missed out on the division two prize
'I think of it often to this day, of how close I was and how gut-wrenching it was,' he said,
'It would have made me and my two children set... with a very comfortable life.'
Agonisingly, the Sunshine Coast dad thought he had won rather than just come close and was expecting a callfrom The Lott in the morning.
When the phone did not ring, the dad thought he would still win a division two prize - which five other entrants won and received $188,000 each.
Lott spokesperson Matt Hart said people should avoid choosing their favourite calendar dates, as everyone does this. If you were to win, you are more likely to have to split the prize. People can choose up to 35 for the main numbers and up to 20 for the Powerball
Thursday's jackpot is $100m - the third-biggest prize offered by any Australian lottery game in 2024. It's also the sixth-biggest jackpot in Australian lottery history, according to The Lott
Because division two requires all seven numbers to be chosen without needing the Powerball, the dad 'only' won division three, which requires six main numbers plus the Powerball.
The father said instead of being able to help out his six siblings if he had won the $40m, he spent his $15,000 windfall to help his son buy his first car and gave a large portion to his daughter.
The 'unluckiest' lotto winner has been a seafarer in the merchant navy for 30 years and still rents his three-bedroom home.
Ahead of Thursday's jackpot draw, The Lott spokesperson Matt Hart gave his top tip - do not use calendar dates as they have greater likelihood of also being chose by others which means there's more chance of splitting the prize if you win.
'With any lottery game, we often see more division one winners when the numbers drawn are 31 and under, and that's because a lot of people do mark their entries with family birth dates and so forth,' he told Yahoo.
'On the other side of that, if there are a couple of numbers above 31, then we don’t see many division one winners because of that same reason. It’s also not uncommon for numbers over 31 to be drawn.'
Hard-headed logic dictates that any number is as likely as any other to be drawn, but Mr Hart said there are 'hot' and 'cold' numbers.
'They do change all the time but the latest information shows that for the main barrel — where seven numbers are drawn from one to 35 — the most frequently drawn are 17, seven, three and nine,' he said.
'While the least frequently drawn are 31, 33, 15 and 26.'
When it comes to the actual Powerball - a number punters must choose between one and 20 -two and four are the most common, while 14 and 16 are the least drawn.
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