Lucky Sevens Fan $6.5 Million Lotto Powerball Win

Media Release

9 February 2005

SPUR OF THE MOMENT PURCHASE SCORES LUCKY SEVENS FAN $6.5 MILLION LOTTO POWERBALL WIN

A spur of the moment purchase of a Lotto Triple Dip ticket has resulted in a Sevens rugby fan winning $6.5 million, New Zealand Lotteries Commission Chief Executive Trevor Hall announced today.

Mr Hall confirmed the ticket, sold at Coastlands Lotto, Paraparaumu, has now been claimed with the winner taking home a total of $6,541,653. This is made up of $6,187,065 from Powerball and $354,588 from being a Division One Lotto winner.

The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, was overwhelmed by the size of the win.

"This is only the fourth Lotto ticket he has ever bought.

"It was an absolutely spur of the moment buy. A family member told him on the way to the IRB's Sevens tournament in Wellington that 'the Powerball jackpot's getting big and you should buy a ticket'," said Mr Hall.

Mr Hall said the winner didn't watch the Saturday night draw, and had no idea he'd won until he checked a newspaper for results late on Monday.

"The ticket survived the Sevens revelry and he finally checked it on Monday night. Because he's an occasional player he wasn't sure if he'd really won, even though the numbers on the very first line of his Triple Dip ticket matched the winning numbers."

"So he woke up the person who suggested he buy the ticket, and once he'd confirmed that it was the winning ticket, neither of them slept much for the rest of the night."

Mr Hall says New Zealand Lotteries is delighted for this week's winner.

"I understand that he's like any of our big winners, feeling a bit overwhelmed, but planning to make the most of his luck with family being a big priority."

With a total prize pay-out of $6.5 million, this is the seventh largest prize ever won by a single ticket. The largest prize ever won by an individual ticket was $14,763,254 in April 2004 to a ticket sold in Kawerau. Rounding out the top 5 big wins are an $11.4 million prize that went to a ticket bought in Hokitika in November 2002, $9.9million to another ticket sold in the capital in December 2004, $9.8 million to a ticket bought in Wanganui in May 2003 and $8.2 million to a ticket bought in Whangarei in June 2001.

ENDS

© Scoop Media