Australians can enter third-largest US lottery jackpot this week

Australians have the chance to win the third largest US lottery jackpot in history this week, thanks to Lottoland and Planet Lottery.

Last Saturday, not one American lottery player correctly predicted the winning numbers for the Powerball draw. As a result, the total prize pool has grown to $USD650 million (almost $AUD820 million), making it the third-largest jackpot in US history.

Before Lottoland and Planet Lottery, Australians had no way of getting involved in the action – now you can.

Lottoland is an online lottery betting site where you bet on the outcome of the draw. Although punters still win the jackpot prize money, Lottoland pays you instead of the Official US Powerball.

Planet Lottery is available at William Hill and offers a similar product. Instead of participating in the draw, you are betting on the outcome via the online lottery site.

You can create an account with either or both of these sites to potentially be a multi-millionaire by the weekend.

Australians participating in US Powerball

Oz Lotto holds the record for the biggest lottery jackpot in Australia, with more than $AUD100 million shared between four winners on November 6, 2012. But the record is trifling compared to the US Powerball record, with a whopping $USD1.5 billion jackpot up for grabs in 2016.

Lottoland launched its online site in Australia when the record US lottery jackpot draw took place and even though no one Down Under won the top prize, it made the lottery site a household name.

Australians can sign up to Lottoland to purchase tickets for the US Powerball this week too.

To participate, players need to pick five numbers, drawn from 69, and one supplementary number, drawn from 26. Lottoland will pay out the main jackpot, as well division prizes if you guess all of the numbers correctly.

For a chance at winning the third-largest jackpot in US history, get your entries in before the draw, which will take place on Thursday, at 1 pm AEST (Wednesday night at 11 pm in the US).

Lottoland has a welcome bonus for new users too, where you can buy three US Powerball tickets for the price of two. This offer is only available to QLD, TAS, ACT, and NT residents only.

Planet Lottery is another way to get involved in the US Powerball. You will need to create an account with the betting site, William Hill, to participate. Then simply pick your numbers as detailed above and get your entry in before the draw. Although Planet Lottery passes your entry onto Lottoland, you can bet on sports and other events too at William Hill.

It is important to note that Lottoland and Planet Lottery pay out the main jackpot winnings over 30 years in increasing annuity payments or you can opt for a discounted lump sum, which is 40 percent of the main jackpot. You can find more information on the Lottoland homepage.

South Australian residents are unable to bet via Lottoland or Planet Lottery due to state legislation.

Odds of winning US Powerball

US Powerball was launched in 1992 and is played in 44 states, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

The American Powerball draw holds the largest lottery payout in the world, which we mentioned above. In 2016 $USD1.586 billion was split between three lucky winners located in Florida, California and Tennessee.

Initially, the odds of winning the US Powerball was 50 million to one. But in 2015, the game was revamped increasing the odds to 292.2 million to one.

Still, if you’re feeling lucky and want a chance at winning the huge payouts available in the US, head to Lottoland or Planet Lottery to get your entry in now.