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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 $4.33m prize is made up of $4 million from Powerball First Division and an additional $333,333 from 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 is said to have ran to the store for two household staples but eventually came home with a jackpot-winning lottery ticket. “I was sent to the supermarket to buy some eggs and milk,” the woman from Auckland told Lotto NZ in an official news release. 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 player, who bought the winning lotto ticket from the Countdown Auckland city supermarket in Downtown Auckland, is the second Powerball multi-millionaire of 2023. She hadn’t planned to buy a ticket, but a fortunate coincidence led her to purchase one anyway.

“I actually was sent to the supermarket to buy some eggs and milk. Afterwards I had some change left over so I thought to myself that I might as well buy a lottery ticket.”

Anonymous winner of $4.3 million lottery prize

The woman, who prefers to stay anonymous, told lottery officials she is not a regular player, but tends to buy a Powerball ticket if the jackpot is over $12 million. The Auckland woman initially thought she had only won $4000. She checked her ticket on Sunday morning but it wasn’t until later in the day, after getting her great-niece to check the ticket, that she realised she had won the big prize. The woman added, in disbelief:

“I logged in and checked my ticket and noticed all the numbers line up. But to be honest, I thought it said ‘$4000’, not four million! I truly feel blessed.”

Anonymous winner of $4.3 million lottery prize

Having realised the financial impact of her winnings, she celebrated the jackpot by popping some bubbles with family members on Sunday evening.

“And my niece was so lovely. She said; ‘You’re the best person to win it – you deserve it”

Anonymous winner of $4.3 million lottery prize

The woman, who told Lotto Powerball that she is about to retire, is going to use her winnings to pay off her mortgage and renovate her bathroom, amongst others. She also plans to donate to some charities special to her. 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.

“Days After a $23.5 million Powerball Win”

This most recent million dollars win comes a few days after a $23.5 million Powerball prize won by another Auckland couple. They said their win would be a “massive help” to both themselves and their extended family. One of the winners stated “I said to my siblings “now I can take care of all the people I love and deeply care for – oh, and I might just happen to help you guys out as well!’” The couple were still processing the news and hadn’t yet celebrated properly, but were “looking at all the things to do on their wish list”.

Winning Numbers

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

“Heavy Online Traffic Causing Problems”

A spokesperson from Lotto NZ said there had been ‘heavy traffic’ for last minute ticket buying, which happens to be very common when the jackpot exceeds numbers like $20 million. The heavy traffic led to outrage and disbelief amongst players as both Lotto’s site and mobile phone app were temporarily down just ahead of the numbers being revealed.

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

“Lotto – please tell me if your website is going to be fixed before 7.30pm tonight. Otherwise, I need to get in the car and start moving.”

Another frustrated player added to the complaints, “Oh no! I’ve been playing my favourite numbers for years now and I can’t get on!!! If this is the night, I will be hugely disappointed. Come on Lotto – sort it out now.”

A Lotto spokesperson said the organisation was very sorry for the inconvenience. This didn’t stop different players from Auckland, Nelson, and Wellington to make $250,000 wins with Lotto First Division. The winning lotto tickets were sold at Pak’nSave Richmond, close to Nelson, and on the MyLotto website to two players from Auckland and one from Wellington. On Wednesday, the 11th of January 2023, a lucky Karaka player walked away with a $1 million prize after winning Lotto’s First Division. The winning ticket was sold at Karaka Convenience in Karaka.

About Lotto New Zealand

Lotto New Zealand is the biggest lottery in the country and has been running since the late 1980s. 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 highest Lotto New Zealand prize ever won stands at $44,066,667, won by a couple from the Hibiscus Coast in November 2016. The young couple who won the fortune in November 2016 got a lot of attention at the time. This $44 million Lotto draw was bigger than anything else that had come before it. The couple stated at the time that they bought their ticket at Dairy Flat Food Mart and Liquor, just north of Auckland. When no-one wins the First Division Powerball jackpot then the ultimate prize is split between multiple Second Division winners, leading to smaller, but still significant prizes.

References

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