What Has Been Your Highest Lotto or Pokie Win?

With the new lottery office giving access to overseas powerballs and lottos have been wondering what has been your highest win?

For me I still remember winning $100 at the local club but to this day I feel like my family set it up just to make me happy that day on my 18th bday.

since then i dont think i have ever won over $55.

lifes too dull so i took a punt at the us lotteries

what would you do with a billion dollars lol

all i can think of is food and maybe hiring some help around the house

what a life ay

Comments

    • +1

      Spend time with your the people you love
      Holiday, be in the moment

    • +2

      If you have a special someone, try doing things and/or going places you both enjoy.

      If you don't have someone, do the same with a close sibling, close friend, or close family member. Good times are exponentially better with loved ones around you.

      Do not disclose you won the lottery, though try to pay their way if it appears as a burden for them.

      Assist those closest to you in major life disruptions.

      Continue to work, part time/casually at least so you are in touch with real society.

      Donate to worthy causes, preferably directly to the end recipient/ground organisation.

      Continue gambling, however at a moderate pace. What you have won is enough for a very comfortable balanced life, including your next generation, if applicable.

      • I don't gamble. I bought the ticket kind of under pressure. I didn't event want it.

    • +1

      If it was me, I'd just put across 4-5 different ETFs and have half of the growth pay out as a divided and the rest go back into it to keep it growing. See an accountant you could put it in a trust so it passes to your family to safeguard against gold diggers, financial scams, death tax, etc.

      • This is the educated smart way.

        Being set up for life safely is such a nice dream and goal to have.

  • How much NETT?

  • +2

    Years ago I joined a PFAS contamination class action suit with 3108 other people. We won. $132.7 million. After the lawyers take their very large cut my share is just under $20,000. I've never won anything more than a few bucks here and there in my life. The lawyers say they'll be disbursing it next May. I hope to find out this week whether I'll get to collect it, or the cancer will get me first. It'd be cruel to win the only big prize I've ever got in my life, and die before I could collect it and enjoy it.

    • Nice damn this made be want to rewatch dark waters again on Netflix.. Such a great documentary with Mark Ruffalo

    • They need to cap the amount lawyers can claim on this, 50% is ridiculous. Literally ambulance chasing under the guise that "we want the best outcome for you"

  • +1

    pockies spent $10 won $100 and left immediately.

    Spent winnings on a decent meal with my other half.

  • +1

    Took home $11k last year in AFL betting and $5.4k this year

  • Around $3,500 years ago with a lotto ticket someone bought me for Father's Day in one of those $10 gift packs. Also a work syndicate I was in won around $9k once but it worked out to about $800 or so each when shared out.

    Had a couple of other wins of between $1k and $1.5k again quite a few years ago.

    Nothing recent apart from the odd sub $50 win now and again.

  • $9 after spending $4.50

  • My wife’s friend won her first lotto some 15 years back of around $90000.
    She has golden hands and really never ever loses. Gets something always as she told. Still in her early 30s and has 9 properties. All in Melbourne. Unmarried.

    • Set us up yo.

      No but for real did she like she did the math out of those tickets and choose the most optimal numbers or just random auto pick.

      If the latter rather than the former than yeah holy clap that is some crazy good luck.

      What else those hands do?

      • Well I haven’t talked for that level of details.
        But consider this, I was interested to hear about a particular event where she gifted lotto ticket to someone on Chris Kingle.
        Guess what, that fella won some 75 bucks. This is freakin odd mate. Sick.

        • lol sounds like a movie of some sort from the 90s or early 00s haha like some christmas movie where the protagonist is super lucky

      • -2

        Are you asking what those hands can do sexually?

      • +2

        No but for real did she like she did the math out of those tickets and choose the most optimal numbers or just random auto pick.

        There are no optimal numbers.

        • +1

          The winning numbers seem pretty optimal to me.

    • Surely would've had to of had some inheritance, 9 properties alone would require say $600,000 in deposits.

  • I once won just under $2K from a handful of dollars (maybe $10 or $20, I'm guessing) betting on all of the OVERWHELMING favourites during a international football qualifying round. It was at a time I was a poor uni student in the early 00's, unfortunately the money didn't last very long because I was like a child dizzy on lemonade.

    I did try to do it a few times afterwards (thinking it would be easy), but there was always one result that went again the grain.

    Shoutout to my friends for helping me spend my riches (shoutout to them for buying me some beers back when I ran out).

  • +2

    Not, exactly the Lotto/Pokies, but I tell you has had good luck with 'trade' promotions for cars/houses/cash, the mates of these unregistered raffle organisers haha

    Can't believe the suckers who sign up recurring monthly direct debits. Even though you've very unlikely to win lotto or pokies (long term), at least they have checks and balances

    The most famous one is LMCT+, I checked it out just for a laugh. Went to their Facebook page and noted that 3 of my friends liked their page.

    It's interesting that those 3 friends are all renting. Doesn't surprise me when you buy dumb shit like this.

    • I’ve noticed that a lot of popular car raffles advertise “best odds” or really good odds by saying the draw is capped at x amount of entrants. So you see capped at 4000 entrants and think ok - I have a one in 4000 chance of winning. But that’s not true because those entrants can each purchase as many entries as they like. If you buy one entry but everyone else buys 3 your odds are more like 1 in 11998. Then they sell “bundles” of large amounts of entries at a discount. It’s pretty unethical and I would have thought illegal but they seem to get away with it.

      • They get away with it because it’s not a regulated raffle.

        The competition organisers can select the winner like a colouring in competition

  • +1

    Well well doesn't this brings back memories, long long time ago, must be 15+ years at least, I won $25k in blackjack counting hards in one night.

    This was on a normal 8 deck (or was it 6 deck?) manual shuffling. Took everything in cash and deposited into the bank account.

    These days you be lucky to see any casino still offers hand shuffling blackjacks. And stay away from the BJ+ or even the other forms of blackjacks with side bets. They are there for a reason with a high edge of 5% or more against the player

    The other life changing win is to have a daughter of my own, as the odds of having a boy and a girl is 50/50 so I am really really happy to have a daughter:) regardless how mischief she is lol

    • Did you name her Aerith or Tifa :p

      • Haha, no one in the FF series, however her name is very much a famous anime character

    • Why is manual shuffling better than automatic shuffling when it comes to card counting?

      They still have to go through the shoe before they re-shuffle, so your count should still be effective right?

      • There is no way you know if it's a positive or negative count as every cards in every hand are reused.

        You wanna start betting big ideally at least a positive 8. Which means there are lots A and 10 in the shoes. Far better chance of getting a blackjack

      • It’s not just auto-shuffled, it’s constantly shuffled

        • Well that sounds unfair. It adds true randomness to the game.

  • +3

    After what Gamblor did to Marge, miss me with that.

    • Thanks haha I needed this.

  • A mathematician was quoted as saying that the odds of winning the major prize in a Lotto is less than the equivalent of placing a ream of paper on every seat at the MCG (100,000) and you being asked to pick ONE sheet from one ream in the stadium. Someone’s got to eventually do it but the odds of it being you are less than minuscule.

    • That sounds about right.

      I guess my only answer to that is sometimes hardship makes us try to do the impossible.

      Head banging on wall ensues.

    • You can play this powerball simulator and see how much you need to bet to win
      https://lottosimulation.com/au/powerball

  • +5

    I live in Sydney and I remember going to crown on holidays with friends. Put in my first ever dollar to a pokie machine. Won $63. Cashed out.
    Then about 3 years later, played on New year's day for the second time. Was drunk. Out in $100. $5 hits. Won $2455 odd dollars. It was incredible (5 X pyramids).
    I then went on a gambling bender for the next 2 years where I probably lost $20,000. I could afford it but it was ugly. Would never touch one again. I now know I would bet my pants if they'd let me when I get in the zone and I actually feel sorry when I hear people having the ability to punt all day long on their phone. Worst regulation ever.

    • +2

      Textbook case for a casino. Glad you got out of it

  • FMG @ 15.67, but only a small parcel. So not much really

  • +1

    What Has Been Your Highest Lotto or Pokie Win?

    Unfortunately Lotto, Polies, etc. is a poor and unsophisticated man's tax.

    If you ask this question, take a step back and … stop.

    • +1

      The real truth that needed to be said

  • $4000 from lotto 3 years ago. I do spend $5-10 per week on Lotto. I balance this spending with not drinking cafe coffee (dont like it anyway), using 7 eleven petrol hack, indian YouTube subscription etc… So that i don't feel guilty :)

    • Hehe I just found out about girl math from tik tok recently and this feels like a variation of that ha

    • +2

      I balance this spending with not drinking cafe coffee (dont like it anyway),

      It's strange to justify a purchase by saying it's okay because you didn't but a coffee when you wouldn't have purchased the coffee anyway

  • Bought 2x $2 scratch it tickets and won $100 on 1 and $20 on the other.

    • Scratchies still remind me of childhood.

      Good times with grandparents lol.

      Every time I look back at my upbringing I laugh nowadays.

    • I still remember my best mate at 13 being bought a $1 scratchie and winning $500. His dad took the scratchie off him and gave him $50.

      He only found out after his 18th that the old man spent the proceeds on weed and a lady of the night, which hastened his parents divorce at 15.

      • I think this sums up the reality life the best way I know it. At least for divorced parents and their kids or just deadbeat lowlifes in general.

        All I can say to that is the earlier the better rather than being strung along or always guessing.

        Finality and closure are probably one of the two worst things to never ever get in a situation like this.

  • With the US Powerball, the rule-of-thumb would be to multiply the jackpot by 0.3 to get net winnings after taxes, assuming you take lumpsum. Then 24% federal tax, then 37% federal marginal rate. This is worst case as its unclear how it is paid to someone if won in Australia.

    • So with a hypothetical 1 billion dollars how much would you realistically conservatively see in your pocket after all is said and done?

      Would it be fair to say you will see 300 million and some pocket change after a 1 billion dollar win in the US Powerball?

      • yup around 300 million.

        • gba

    • yep - depends on the us dollar as well.

    • Then 24% federal tax, then 37% federal marginal rate

      They are both the same tax

      The IRS takes 24% of winnings upfront and collects the rest when the next tax return is filed.

      It is not a 24% tax and a 37% tax

  • The MCG fits about 100,000 people. Would you feel lucky in being randomly selected out of those 100,000 people? Now imagine another 1370 MCGs full of people. One of those will be selected as the winner. Still feeling like it's going to be you? Those are your odds of winning Powerball.

    • +2

      (cough)
      Serial gambler here, FYI it's actually 1345 MCGs.
      Gotta get the maths correct 🫠

    • hey man i could have died today right but 1 in 8 billion chance still goin stronk

      the other few thousand that died while writing this sentence not so lucky

    • But one of those people still do win and It might as well be me.

  • ~$400 lotto

  • +4

    Never gambled. That's my greatest win.

    Though, I gamble my life daily by driving on the road with all those morons drivers set out to kill me.

    • Yeah honestly for me if you a driver you a bigger gambler than me in my eyes.

      I think I am just overly paranoid and anxious all the time though.

      Even when I ride the train I am like is this the day I end up on the news?

  • $10 to $18 win :(

  • -$90 powerball

  • +3

    I dated a woman who was 45 when I was 18 she paid for everything. I remember going to Westfield Parramatta going to Hoyts and just watching a movie till she said she's out for lunch and I left the movie half way. She worked for Telstra and was on big dollars. She used to give me spending money $250 week in 1998 she said don't get anything from my parents. We were together for 9 years till I broke it off. That was like hitting the jackpot. She even bought me an Evo 9 Lancer evolution which I still have today

    • +1

      How did this arrangement start?

    • Evo would probably be worth more than she paid for it

      • +1

        Yep 2007 49k on the clock silver

  • $1250 minor win on the Ninja lightening pokie machine, $1 bets on $1 machine. Only chucked in $50 and was down to my last $10.

    Major jackpot was $1000 so obviously I didn’t need that 🤭

    Then as I was about to press collect, one K with 4 ninja substitutes came out x16 in a straight line 🥰

    I hardly go play pokies so it was so nice.

  • +1

    I'm not a regular lottery player, but I've had a few lucky wins over the years.

    Back in the early 80s, when I was a teenager, I filled out a lottery ticket with my travel numbers on it and gave it to my mom to take to the store while I hopped on a plane to Egypt to travel on $10 a day. When she got to the store, she was told the system had changed and she needed to fill out a different form. She was busy and said she'd come back next week, but the shop assistant insisted on helping her. That ticket won $11,000!

    Before I left I had jokingly told my parents to use the money to go to Europe for my grandmother's 80th birthday. When I called home from a kibbutz in Israel (3 months later…) for Christmas, my brother answered the phone and told me that $5,000 had been loaded onto my credit card (which was a new concept at the time, and not everyone accepted them yet) and that my parents had just arrived in Europe! A few years later, my parents paid me back to help me with a home deposit. (Unfortunately, I lost that house in the recession a few years later when interest rates went to 20%! But that's another story.)

    About 10 years ago, I was in charge of a lottery syndicate for about 15 people for a year. We won $12,000 over that year, all with $2/week per person. That was nice.

    I still play the lottery occasionally, but mostly for fun. I guess you could say it's an investment in making people happier. And sometimes, I even win. I spend about $300pa I guess.

  • I put 650 for germany (vs ghana) in worldcup 2014 and lost.

  • $48

  • +1

    1000 ish on a Division 3 (5 of 6 numbers) during one of the COVID lockdowns.
    I never do quick picks and always pick my own numbers so I really mucked up not picking the right 6th number.
    Oh well…

  • +2

    I can't remember how much I started with, but was drunk AF on a Contiki tour in Monaco with my now wife. Was playing Roulette.

    Fortunately she was behind me asking for money to go and what I thought she was doing was gambling at other tables so I just kept giving her chips as I kept winning. Turns out she wasn't going anywhere, she was just standing behind me holding the chips. Ended up walking away with ~400 euro's and can barely remember it.

  • Highest pokie win = 0

  • When Crown Casino 1st opened in Melbourne, I spent $5 on pokies & won $600. Have not been back since.

  • $15

  • +1

    The sum of all tickets I didn't buy is my win and it grows by the day.

  • +1

    I know 3 people who've won division one in lotto - the most recently was a few months ago. The highest was 30 million in Powerball around 8 years ago. As for me, the most I've won was division 2 in Super 66 = $6666. The more recent one was last year (just over $3000 on a system). I play lotto every week.

    • You lucky dawg

    • nice this gives me the hope i was looking for

  • $45ish on powerball. I only buy a ticket when the jackpot is 30 million+. It’s nice for a few days to think about how I’d handle a win even though I realise it will never happen.

  • Me personally, like ~$280
    Made me feel a bit better when I finally got there to collect, but was a bit of damper on the whole occasion because I was in a car accident on the way to collect it.
    Some idiot in a Prado with bullbar rammed me at a stop sign, then he was like "why'd you stop! no one was coming!?" to which I replied "ah, it's called a stop sign?" not to mention the low sight distance… Eventful day cause I was also leaving to go on a road trip so got delayed massively trying to waterproof my bent boot full of luggage with cling wrap and tape, and replace a taillight with one I then had to pickup from the dealer. I intended to have the $280 spending money but had to spend it on the light then chase the other guy's insurance to get repaid.

    Although good fortune does happen to people - I guy I used to work with won a YourTown prize home on the Gold Coast, furniture package, book buyers prize car, and gold bullion worth like $2 million at the time!!… and a lot more now if he hang onto it (I don't know if he did, no longer in contact with him).

  • +1

    Biggest has been $50 bet into $24,862 payday on my birthday last year. Champions League (football/soccer) 3-leg multi. I didn’t think it got up, as I’d turned the last game off to go to work just before the end. That leg got up in injury time. Opened up sportsbet app waiting for a coffee at lunch, was pretty happy!

  • went on a 8-night cruise, played poker with money for the first time over there,
    1st - Went with $40 got out with $140, left the table and went running to tell my gf that I won.
    2nd - went with $40, lost it.
    3rd went with $40 got out with $60
    4th - played the tournament, buy-in was $60, I got second place and got about $250, that was a great feeling. paid for all my drinks throughout the cruise with these winnings, lol.

  • I’ve won $10k+ many times. Table games, horses/dogs and the pokies. I’ve lost far more than I’ve won over the years though.

  • +2

    Dad won $100k on footy about 20 years ago. He never told us about the winning. We only found out after mum went through his wallet while he was showering.

    Mum never confronted him about the winnings and he was and still is a problem gambler so he probably gave (lost) all the money back to the casino.

    He now lives on Centrelink pension. Such a prick.

  • +1

    I won about 3.500 on lotto about 30 years ago. There used to be a clairvoyant who gave out the numbers called Tom Ward. However I didnt stick to those numbers and cant remember them now.
    Now I have found a new way to play. There are store syndcates online that start from $1. I now select what is the best value. One just won 4000 but my share was $30.
    I am sticking with this new method as long as it takes,

  • +1

    Don't you forget gamblers, you can lose 100% but you can also win 1000%

  • Only fools gamble.

  • Nowadays I buy a syndicate ticket for about $20 when tatts does the $20 mill draw.

    While most of the money goes to div 1 by buying more combos as a group the chance of pulling a middle division increases. Half the time I have got something back. From two dollars to I think 120.

    . As a ozbargainer it's occasionally nice to just throw some money away.

  • -1

    Lets talk about how much you have lost ?

  • About tree fiddy

  • $60 from $1 on the pokies when I was 20.

    Few $500+ returns on NRL multis this year.

  • You specifically asked for lotto and pokies - biggest on lotto was $184.

    BUT

    I've raked in more than $20k on competitions over the years. One single win this year was $10k.

    I think gambling is stupid, but I DO spend on Lotto and MSWA - basically anything where funds go (or also go) to donations/charities/grants.

    The competition entries were free so by a country mile the best return on investment. Just some of my time.

  • Bought the mrs a quick pick for her birthday, come up $950 or so.
    One immediate relative got $25k off a $1 scratchie
    One immediate relative got a 1/4 share of a $1.2million lotto win
    Work sweep netted 1.1 Million split many ways

    but.. Ive never won jack schit on my own :(.

  • $5000 at the pokies. $2000 at lotto

  • -1

    And in news just to hand, Australians lose $14.5 BILLION in gambling. I'll just repeat that for those who have hearing problems. $14.5 BILLION.

    But hey, you've gotta be in it to win it as some of you say. The consequences of that philosophy can be devastating for some.

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