1 April 2011

A stunned Wellington woman today claimed her Big Wednesday prizes worth $7,041,224 million at 11.59 am on April Fool’s Day, says NZ Lotteries’ Chief Executive, Todd McLeay.

“I had in the back of my mind that it was still April Fools when I checked my ticket, so when First Division winner flashed up on the monitor, I didn’t really believe it and thought that was a really mean trick to play on me,” said the winner.

The winner only decided to buy their Big Wednesday ticket on the spur of the moment, after winning $27 from last Saturday’s Lotto draw.

“I can’t believe I have now turned that $27 win into $7 million”, she said.

“This win has come at a fantastic time for me as I have been saving up for my first house, which I can now just go out and buy. I may need to buy a bigger house than I had planned with lots of garages, to hide all these new cars away,” joked the winner.

“Even better, I can now splash out and buy some great Rugby World Cup tickets plus I want to take the family away on a Europe trip to see the All Blacks play at Cardiff – which has always been a dream,” she said.

The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, won a First Division prize package worth $6,761,213 which consists of $5 million cash, an Audi A4 Avant, an Aston Martin DB9, a $250,000 Platinum VISA card, $250,000 towards luxury travel, a luxury Four Winns Boat and $750,000 towards a bach. The winner covered head and tails on their Dip ticket, so also wins an additional $280,011 with Second Division.

Their winning ticket was sold at Mall Books & Lotto in Newtown, Wellington. This claim caps off a lucky week for the store, with a Second Division Lotto prize won last Saturday, and a Second Division Big Wednesday prize also won there last night.

“It’s been nearly three months since Big Wednesday was struck so our latest winner in Wellington wins a huge multi-million dollar prize, which is the seventh largest Big Wednesday prize ever won,” said Todd McLeay.

Meantime, Lotto Powerball has jackpotted to a record-equalling $28 million this Saturday. If not struck this weekend, then next week’s Powerball will be a $30 million ‘must be won’ draw. This last occurred in October 2008, when the top prize was then shared by five players from around New Zealand.

ENDS

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