Saturday night’s draw will be the sixth time in history that Powerball has reached a Must Be Won draw with a jackpot of over $30 million.

In three of the five draws, the Powerball jackpot was split by multiple players.

The first Must Be Won Draw over $30 million was in October 2008 when five players – from Auckland (2), Wellington (2) and Reefton (1) – split the $30.5 million jackpot and took home $6.1 million each.

Three years later, a player from Dannevirke and another from Hamilton split a $35.2 million jackpot and banked $17.4 million each.

In September 2013 one player from Auckland took home $33 million - currently the second-largest win in Powerball history.

In 2016 there were two Must Be Won Draws. In July a player from Auckland, a player from Hamilton and a player from Dunedin split the $40 million jackpot and scored $13.3 million each. In November an Auckland couple won the largest prize in Powerball history ($44 million).

“With a Powerball Must Be Won this Saturday, it’s guaranteed that one or more lucky Kiwis are going to win big – even if the prize is split.

“Whether it’s one lucky winner or more, we’re so excited that we’ll be making more New Zealanders millionaires this week!” said Marie Winfield, Head of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility at Lotto New Zealand.

Ms Winfield said interest in the record Powerball jackpot is phenomenal.

“The $50 million Must Be Won Powerball draw has captured the imagination of Kiwis up and down the country,” she says.

“We are experiencing unprecedented demand both in store and online, so encouraging all Lotto players to get in early to purchase their ticket.

It’s been four years since Lotto NZ held a Must Be Won draw when $44 million was up for grabs. In November 2016, a man from the Hibiscus Coast was on a smoko break at work when he checked his lucky ticket. He later claimed the largest prize in the Lotto NZ record books.

"As soon as I saw I had all the numbers on one line I just yelled 'holy s***' - my boss thought I'd chopped my arm off with a saw,” said the winner.

Like all lotteries, our games are based on a large number of people paying a small amount of money in the hope of winning a small number of large prizes. At all times Lotto NZ encourages our customers to play responsibly – this is all about having fun, being informed and knowing your limits. For more information on the tools and resources we offer, visit MyLotto.

Every year 100% of Lotto NZ’s profits go to over 3,000 great causes around New Zealand. Over the past decade, Lotto NZ returned almost $2.2 billion in profits to communities all around New Zealand. Read more about how Lotto players made this possible here: A decade of making a difference

Must Be Won Powerball wins over $30 million

How does a Must Be Won draw work?

In a Must Be Won draw, if there are no First Division winners the entire jackpot rolls down to the next Division where there are winners – i.e. Second or Third Division. If there is more one winner in that prize division, then the prize is shared evenly amongst all of the winners

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