Australians, You Can Win the Powerball without flying to the U.S.
If you laugh in the face of Australia’s measly $70 million Lotto, this news is for you.
You can now play for America’s massive $US1.5 billion (that’s A$2.1 billion) Powerball from Australia, meaning you’ll be able to afford an extra private jet if you win the main prize. To enter such a lottery previously, you would have needed to board a flight and travel cramped-up in economy for 14 long hours.
Now you can make billions by staying right where you are.
Betting website Lottoland is offering Australians the chance to bet on the U.S. Powerball for the first time, which will be drawn at 2 p.m. AEDT Thursday (11 p.m. ET Wednesday), and be in the running to win the world’s largest ever jackpot. It will cost you A$14, compared to the US$2, but it’s all pocket money when you are diving into your pool of gold.
In December 2015, the Northern Territory licensed sports bookmaker, the NT Racing Commission, issued a five-year sports bookmaker licence to Lottoland, it confirmed to Mashable Australia. According to Lottoland spokesperson Luke Brill, although the company has 2 million clients in the UK, it is the first of its kind in Australia.
He told Mashable Australia the licence got approved on Christmas eve, but the company didn’t start trading in Australia until last week. It was pure chance the U.S. Powerball — the largest lottery in the world — happened straight after launch. “With the U.S. Powerball, the timing has been amazing for us,” Brill said. “More than 100,000 people have signed up in Australia since yesterday afternoon.”
The Northern Territory Racing Commission has a declared schedule of sporting events it grants licences for betting on. As expected, it lists all sporting codes, but it also includes reality TV, political seats and lotteries. These licences allow trading across all states, except South Australia due to a different code, Brill explained. So, if you are in the southern state, you will still need to buy a plane ticket.
The company, which launched in March 2013 in Gibraltar, allows punters to bet on the results of lotteries around the world — rather than enter the actual lottery. For the smaller lotteries it pays the winners with ticket money, but for the larger jackpots the company takes out insurance against the bets to pay the winner.
“For all intents and purposes you will have the same experience as if you had played the official draw. The difference is that we take your bet and we pay you if you win,” Lottoland website explains. To receive the licence in Australia, the company had to prove it could pay the winners. It is insured by Lloyds of London.
Brill stressed you are not entering the actual U.S. lottery, but merely betting on the U.S. lottery. If someone wins with your numbers in the U.S. Powerball, you will win 50% of the amount, just as if two people won the Powerball. “But if you select the numbers, and no one wins the Powerball, you win the whole lot,” Brill said. “The actual Lotto will go on to another jackpot.”
So if you have always dreamed of instantly appearing on Forbes Rich List, this is your chance.