Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Local Govt | National News Video | Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Search

 

Auckland woman scoops $11.5 million Powerball win

Lockdown to remember: Auckland woman scoops $11.5 million Powerball win

A young woman from Auckland has millions of reasons to celebrate this lockdown after winning $11.5 million with Powerball First Division on Saturday night.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, was having an early start to the day on Sunday morning when she first discovered just how lucky the little yellow ticket she bought through the Lotto NZ App had become.

“I happened to wake up really early on Sunday morning and was catching up on things on my phone while I waited for the rest of the house to wake up. That’s when I saw I had an email from Lotto NZ saying that I had a prize to claim. All I could think was ‘surely not’ – I kind of just brushed it off and went back to what I was doing,” laughed the woman.

It wasn’t until after breakfast that the woman finally decided to check her ticket.

“I opened the Lotto NZ App and saw ‘congratulations’ pop up almost straight away. I glanced at the prize and actually read it as $11,500 – I was stoked with that,” said the woman.

“But after checking my ticket a few times, I looked at the prize amount more closely and started to second guess myself – $11,500,000 was staring back at me and it felt like an awful lot of zeros. I ended up typing the number into Google just to double check what I was seeing, before I got too excited,” laughed the woman.

After realising that she had just become Lotto NZ’s newest multi-millionaire, the woman wrote the prize amount down on a piece of paper and raced out of her room to share the news with her sister.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“She woke me up actually! I was having a bit of a sleep in when she woke me up with a piece of paper in my face, asking me to double check it for her. I was so bleary that I wasn’t sure what was going on – I could barely make sense of all the zeroes either,” laughed the winner’s sister.

After confirming that the woman wasn’t dreaming, the pair then went about their day as usual.

“We tried to keep things pretty normal – I couldn’t sit still though!” said the woman.

“Later in the day we headed down to the supermarket to pick up a few things and decided to give Lotto NZ a call while we were in the carpark, just to double check everything. When the woman on the phone confirmed that I had won $11.5 million… well, it was unbelievable. My sister and I just sat in the car screaming – it was such a cool moment,” the woman said.

So just how does a Powerball winner celebrate in Level 4 lockdown?

“Being in lockdown means there isn’t a lot we can do to celebrate, but I went straight into the supermarket and grabbed a few treats – we actually celebrated with ice creams in the car,” said the woman.

After a whirlwind twenty-four hours and with her prize now claimed, the woman is looking forward to enjoying her winnings.

“I’ve always dreamed of buying my first home and am so excited to finally be able to do that! I’m very family oriented, so I’m really excited to be able to help my family out and set them up for the future – it means so much to me. I feel so incredibly lucky – I’ll never forget this lockdown, that’s for sure!”

The $11.5 million winning Powerball ticket was sold on MyLotto and was made up of $11 million from Powerball First Division and $500,000 from Lotto First Division.

This is the fifteenth Powerball winner already this year and comes three weeks after an Ashburton player won $5.3 million with Powerball First Division.

Powerball wins in 2021

Date Prize Store Location 
2 January $2.8 million The Market Store Twizel 
$2.8 million Fresh Choice Te Anau Te Anau 
6 January $4.5 million Te Aroha Supermarket Te Aroha 
20 January $8.5 million Western Heights Foodmarket Rotorua 
27 February $22.5 million MyLotto Christchurch 
13 March $8.25 million Paper Plus Matamata Matamata 
20 March $5.2 million Hornby Mall Lotto Christchurch 
24 March $4.25 million MyLotto Northland 
17 April $14.25 million MyLotto Auckland 
8 May $12.3 million Hylite Dairy Auckland 
5 June 16.5 million MyLotto Hamilton 
26 June $13 million New World Merrilands New Plymouth 
24 July $17.16 million West City Lotto Auckland 
31 July $5.3 million MyLotto Ashburton 
21 July $11.5 million MyLotto Auckland

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines


Gordon Campbell: On The US Opposition To Mortgage Interest Deductibility For Landlords


Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don't think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of political capital by giving landlords a huge $2.9 billion tax break via interest deductibility, while still preaching the need for austerity to the disabled, and to everyone else...
More


 
 

Government: Concerns Conveyed To China Over Cyber Activity
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity... More

ALSO:


Government: GDP Decline Reinforces Government’s Fiscal Plan

Declining GDP for the December quarter reinforces the importance of restoring fiscal discipline to public spending and driving more economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says... More

ALSO:


Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.