Powerball: The Lott’s Matt Hart reveals how to avoid splitting major cash prizes ahead of $80 million draw

The Lott’s Matt Hart has shared the number sequences you should avoid, as they could end-up costing you major prize money.

On Thursday, Powerball jackpots to a staggering $80 million - the second largest of this year.

Hart revealed The Lott’s data is showing thousands of players are marking their tickets with the exact same number combinations, which means if they win, the prize money will be split into tiny pieces.

For example, the most popular number selection in Saturday Lotto draw 4515 was 8, 15, 22, 29, 36 and 43 – numbers that make a diagonal line on the coupon.

This combination of numbers was picked 8647 times for a draw that offered a $20 million division one prize pool. If those numbers had been drawn, each division one winner would have received just $2312.94.

This will leave winners with a lot less than they bargained for after the draw.

On Thursday, Hart appeared on Sunrise.

“Not to rain on Australia’s number-picking parade, but basically, all those ‘unique’ ways you’re marking your entry, everyone else is doing the same thing,” Hart said.

“For example, diagonal number lines, sequential numbers, patterns of numbers. Everyone’s doing that. So, what we see, for example, there was a recent Powerball draw: one set of numbers had 30,000 entries, so if the number combination had been drawn, instead of a multimillion-dollar prize, you would’ve ended up with, like, $2000.

“It’s not $80 million. Instead of a luxury yacht, it’s a trip on the city ferry with 50-cent fares.”

The most common birthday is September 9, according to Sunrise, so it’s likely many people will include 9 in their selections.

Hot and cold numbers

Hart went on to speak about hot and cold numbers.

“The most frequently drawn numbers from that main Powerball draw include 9, 7 and 17. The most frequently drawn from the separate Powerball barrel include 2 and 4.

“The least frequently drawn from the main barrel include 15, 13 and 31, and the least frequently drawn separate Powerball barrel include 12 and 14.”

If no-one wins the jackpot, it could go as high as $120 million next Thursday.

“(That would be) the biggest to date in 2025. We’ve had the $100 million draw for Powerball and that includes that Sydney winner who remains a mystery, still to collect it their winnings.”

Hart went on to say The Lott has a lot of information to help validate the rightful winner, but not every detail as the ticket was unregistered.

“We don’t have enough information to give us the name, address, phone number of this very lucky winner.

“So, if you think you went through there and purchased a ticket, please make sure you check.

“We had a great case of a Coburg man who won in December last year and only realised last week when he checked an old ticket that he found in a storage locker next to his passport that he’d won $1 million last year.

Hart explained if you lose your ticket, there is a process for lost and damaged tickets.

“That’s where you need to nominate some of the things that only the rightful ticket holder would know.”