Lotto Powerball: Aucklander Wins Multi-Million Prize

A resident from Auckland is the second winner of a multi million prize of $4.3 million in the new year. The news was announced after the ticket draw of Saturday’s Lotto draw on the 21st of January.

The total prize of $4.33million is made up of two prizes with the first $4 million coming from the Powerball First Vision and the $333,333 paid out by the Lotto First Division. The woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, bought the ticket with her change she got back after buying other products at the supermarket. 

The woman says she was in a rush when she eventually got the ticket as she had planned to run the store for two household staples. What she hadn’t planned at that time was to come up with a lottery ticket that turned out to be a winning one. 

“I was sent to the supermarket to quickly get eggs and milk,” the woman from Auckland told Lotto NZ in a news release published by the lotto themselves. Initially, she didn’t realise that she had won $4.3 million as misunderstood the amount for $ 4,000.

Some other Lotto players also won significant amounts in recent draws with one lucky winner grabbing a $333,333 win in Lotto First Division. The winning tickets were sold at Foxton Beach Four Square and on the website of MyLotto.

Eggs, Milk, And Millions Of Dollars

The woman purchased the winning ticket at the Countdown Auckland city supermarket in Downtown Auckland and became the second Powerball-millionaire to make such a win. She hadn’t planned to buy a ticket, but a fortunate coincidence led her to purchase one anyway.

The woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, told lottery officials she’s not a regular player, but tends to get herself a Powerball ticket if the jackpot hits the $12 million range. The Auckland woman initially thought she had only won $4000. Only later along the day she realised that she had won a much bigger amount of money.

Once she realised the financial impact of her winnings, she celebrated the jackpot by popping some bubbles with family members. Interestingly, the woman was about to retire with the new winnings giving her some extra peace of mind. She plans to pay off the rest of her mortgage and restyle her bathroom whilst she also points out that she wants to donate money to charitable institutions. 

According to the elderly woman her “last few years had been pretty difficult”, with the win finally giving her some more financial flexibility. She plans to share the prize with her family and donate some money to charity.

Winning Numbers

The numbers to form the winning combination were: 28, 35, 4, 7, 1 and 23. The winning bonus number turned out to be 17 and the Powerball fell on number 7.

“Heavy Online Traffic Causing Problems”

A spokesperson from Lotto NZ stated there had been ‘heavy traffic’ for last minute ticket buying, common when the jackpot exceeds the $20 million range. The heavy traffic led to outrage and disbelief amongst players with both the website and the app not working whilst the jackpot was about to take place. 

Customers took their frustration to social media, the MyLotto Facebook page in particular, saying they weren’t able to buy a ticket online. A frustrated customer, for instance, said they lived about an hour away from the closest shop, making it logistically difficult to buy a ticket at a physical selling point.

Other frustrated players added to the complaints, “I have been playing my favourite numbers for years now and I can’t get on!!! If this is the night, I’ll be extremely disappointed with what happened. Come on Lotto, sort it out asap.”

A Lotto spokesperson said the organisation was “very sorry for the inconvenience”. The $250,000 wins were made by players from Auckland, Nelson, and Wellington and sold at Pak’nSave Richmond as well as on the website. The players from both Auckland and Wellington bought their tickets online. These were not the only wins made in the first month of the new year. On 11 January a player from Karaka walked away with a $1 million prize after winning Lotto’s First Division. 

About Lotto New Zealand

Lotto New Zealand is New Zealand national’s lottery and was established in 1987. Lotto, the main game of Lotto New Zealand consists of 6 balls and a bonus ball, with odds of 38:1 million on hitting the bingo’s jackpot. The popularity of Lotto is also thanks to the top prize that can go up to NZ$4 million. The highest Lotto New Zealand prize ever won stands at $44,066,667, won by a couple from Hibiscus Coast, which occurred in November 2016. The minimum age to buy a Lotto New Zealand ticket or one of the other gambling products is 18 years. 

References

• https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/lotto-powerball-numbers-are-in-23-million-up-for-grabs-tonight/4CSR3VQOGVEJBCNCVGTBYU3NMA/
• https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300789594/aucklander-becomes-multimillionare-after-lotto-win
• https://www.macon.com/news/nation-world/world/article271637472.html