Sticking to birthday numbers, meaning 1 through 31, doesn't change your odds of winning, since every combination is equally likely. It does make a shared Division 1 more likely, because calendar dates are heavily over-picked and the numbers 32 to 35 sit outside them entirely.
The game at a glance
7 of 35 + Powerball
Thu
Australia
1 in 134,490,400
The same for every possible combination, including this one.
1 of 20
Powerball: you pick it yourself, drawn from a separate pool.
18+
Must be 18+ to play Powerball in Australia.
Australia Powerball, in brief
Powerball is Australia's biggest jackpot lottery, run by The Lott on behalf of the state lotteries under The Lottery Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the American game, it's a completely separate lottery with its own rules and its own draw. A standard game asks a player to pick seven main numbers from 1 to 35, plus one Powerball from 1 to 20 chosen from a separate pool.
There is a single draw each week, on Thursday night. The two sets of balls come out of two separate machines: seven from the main barrel of 35, then the Powerball from its own barrel of 20. Matching all eight wins Division 1, at odds of 1 in 134,490,400. When nobody wins, the jackpot rolls into the next Thursday, and because the whole country feeds one prize pool it can climb past $100 million during a long run.
Nine prize divisions sit below the jackpot, and the lowest one needs only two main numbers plus the Powerball. Entries are sold at newsagents and other outlets across Australia and online through The Lott.
Prize tiers
7 numbers + PowerballJackpot
Division 1, the jackpot, shared among all winning entries and paid as a lump sum
7 numbers, no Powerball
Division 2, typically a six-figure share of the prize pool
6 numbers + Powerball
Division 3, usually several thousand dollars
6 numbers, no Powerball
Division 4, a few hundred dollars
5 numbers + Powerball
Division 5, a modest cash prize
2 numbers + Powerball
Division 9, the lowest of the nine divisions, a small prize of roughly the cost of a few games
Where Australia Powerball came from
A different Powerball
Australia's Powerball held its first draw in May 1996, borrowing the two-barrel format of the American game that had relaunched under the Powerball name four years earlier. That's where the connection ends. The Australian game has always been run domestically, first through Tattersall's and Tabcorp and today through The Lottery Corporation, and its numbers, prizes, and draws have nothing to do with the US version.
The 2018 matrix change
For most of its life the game asked for six numbers from 40 plus the Powerball, with jackpot odds of about 1 in 76.8 million. On 19 April 2018 the format changed to the current seven from 35 plus one from 20, drawn from two Smartplay Halogen II machines. The shift lengthened the top-division odds to 1 in 134,490,400, which lets jackpots roll higher before someone wins, while the seven-number matrix spread wins across more of the lower divisions.
One night a week
Unlike its American namesake, which draws three times a week, the Australian game has kept a single Thursday draw since launch. That slower rhythm is part of why a rolling jackpot here builds anticipation over weeks rather than days.
Picking numbers, honestly
A number that hasn't appeared for months isn't due. The barrels have no memory, so a cold number carries exactly the same odds next Thursday as one drawn last week.
In the Australian game you pick your Powerball yourself from a separate pool of 20, and it's drawn from its own barrel. That means the Powerball can duplicate one of your seven main numbers, and matching all seven mains without it still only pays Division 2.
Australia Powerball — frequently asked
No. They share a name and the two-barrel idea, but they're separate games run by different operators in different countries. The Australian game uses a 7-of-35 plus 1-of-20 format with one weekly draw; the American one uses 5 of 69 plus 1 of 26 with three draws a week.
A single game wins Division 1 at odds of 1 in 134,490,400. The lowest division, two main numbers plus the Powerball, comes in at roughly 1 in 66 per game.
The minimum is two main numbers plus the Powerball, which pays Division 9. Nine divisions run from there up to the jackpot.
Once a week, on Thursday night, with the seven main numbers drawn from one barrel and the Powerball from a second.
No. From launch in 1996 the game drew six numbers from 40 plus the Powerball. The current 7-from-35 plus 1-from-20 matrix took effect on 19 April 2018 and hasn't changed since.