Media Release   15 October 2013

$33 Million Powerball Ticket Goes On Display

Ever wondered what $33 million looks like? This week, Lotto New Zealand installed the winning Lotto Powerball ticket at the One Step Ahead store in Ponsonby, so you can witness this piece of Lotto history for yourself.

A fortnight ago, a self-proclaimed “westie” from Auckland, who wishes to remain anonymous, became the largest ever individual Powerball winner when he claimed his $33 million prize with a ticket bought from One Step Ahead.

“This life-changing yellow piece of paper is a unique piece of Lotto history”, says Emilia Mazur, Corporate Communications Manager. “It deserves pride of place in this store.”

In last month’s Powerball Must Be Won draw, despite there being two Lotto First Division winning tickets and 35 Lotto Second Division winning tickets, only one ticket had the right Powerball number, and that number turned out to be worth $33 million.

One Step Ahead in Ponsonby has been buzzing over the last couple of weeks with the news that the big winner was sold there.

“We’ve had so many people come in and ask about the big winning ticket,” says One Step Ahead owner Gary Ashton. “Many of our customers are keen to touch it for good luck when they buy their own Lotto tickets.”

The ticket has been installed in a purpose-built plinth, underneath a glass-domed case to protect it from dust and damage.

Background information:

This is the largest individual Powerball prize ever won in the history of the game, and the second largest individual prize across all of Lotto New Zealand’s games. The largest ever individual prize was a Big Wednesday First Division prize worth $36.9 million, won by a family from Masterton in 2009.

Lotto New Zealand was established in 1987 to raise funds for community benefit. Thanks to Lotto players, over $200 million in profit was able to be returned to the community last year via the Lottery Grants Board.

Last month a ticket sold in Christchurch won $22.6 million with Big Wednesday. The winner of that prize is yet to come forward.

ENDS

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