If you bought your Powerball ticket from Paper Plus Morrinsville for last Saturday’s draw, you might want to check it before heading away for Labour weekend – because you may just be upgrading your trip!

The $5.5 million prize, made of $5 million from Powerball First Division and $500,000 from Lotto First Division, remains unclaimed almost a week on.

“We’re encouraging anyone who bought their ticket from Paper Plus Morrinsville for the draw on 17 October to check their tickets – you could be New Zealand’s newest multi-millionaire. We can’t wait to meet you and celebrate your amazing win,” said Marie Winfield, Head of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility at Lotto NZ.

“Powerball is certainly on a roll and there’s already been 25 Powerball winners so far this year – it’s an absolutely staggering amount.”

Most Powerball winners do claim their prize within a few days of winning – but occasionally some do leave it a little longer before checking and claiming their big win.

“The winner may know that they have the lucky winning ticket and could just be letting the news sink in, or they may be completely unaware that their little yellow ticket is worth millions,” says Marie.

In December 2019 a $17.1 million prize went unclaimed for over three weeks. The South Island winner was quietly coming to terms with the enormity of the win and decided to lay low for a while before contacting Lotto NZ to claim their prize.

In August 2019 a $12.2 million Powerball prize went unclaimed for over two weeks. The ticket was purchased on MyLotto and Lotto NZ was able to contact the winner who was completely unaware they had won and was surprised by the news.

In 2017, a Gisborne couple took two weeks to claim a $6.5 million Powerball prize. They knew straight away that they'd won but wanted to take their time before claiming to think about how to manage their windfall.

In 2014, a Hamilton couple sat on their winning $16.2 million ticket for ten days before checking and finding out they were the missing millionaires.

In 2013, Lotto NZ tracked down a Christchurch player who was unaware they had won $22 million. The man thought the prize had already been claimed so was taken by surprise when Lotto NZ knocked on his door.

Anyone who purchased their ticket from Paper Plus Morrinsville in Morrinsville should write their name on the back of the ticket and check it immediately at any Lotto outlet, online at MyLotto.co.nz or through Lotto NZ App.

Players can phone Lotto on 0800 695 6886 to find out how to claim a prize.

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