It was anything but a slow start to a Sunday morning for one lucky Hamilton couple after winning $8.3 million in Powerball last weekend.

The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, said they’ve been “in a dream” since discovering they’re New Zealand’s latest multi-millionaires.

“We found out on the morning after the draw,” the man said. “I was having my coffee and reading through some work emails when I came across an email from Lotto NZ saying I’d won a prize.

“I jumped onto the MyLotto App to check my ticket but didn’t actually see the numbers line up because I was too busy drinking my coffee,” the man laughed.

“When I looked back at the ticket, it had $8.3 million across the top, which I thought was $8,333 at first glance. To be fair, I was pretty happy with that!

“I called my partner over to have a look and she thought it was $8,333, too.”

After closer inspection, the coupled realised it was a bit more than that – 1,000 times more.

“We were shocked and thought it was too good to be true, but when we looked online and saw someone in Hamilton had won $8.3 million, we realised we had really won,” the man said.

After claiming their mammoth prize online, the couple “got on with their day” but made sure to share the exciting news with their children and have a “couple of celebratory drinks in the evening.”

Over a week later, the news still “hasn’t properly sunk in. I’ve snuck a look at the winning ticket a few times in the past week to make sure it’s real,” the man said.

Despite their “life-changing” news, not much has changed for the couple in the material sense. “We’re back at work and not rushing out to buy anything crazy – although we’ll be able to splash out a bit more this Christmas!” the man said.

“We plan to take our time to think about what we really want to do. But we’ll definitely pay off our mortgage and help our family.

“This win has opened up so many opportunities for us, and we want to make sure we make the most of it.”

Notes for editors:

• The winning $8.3 million Powerball First Division ticket was sold on MyLotto to a couple from Hamilton for the draw on Saturday 11 November.
• The winner would like to remain anonymous and does not wish to provide any further comment at this stage.
• This is the sixteenth Powerball First Division winner of 2023.
• The $8.3 million Powerball prize is made up of $8 million from Powerball First Division and $333,333 from Lotto First Division.

Powerball wins in 2023

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