Christchurch man celebrates $5.5 million Powerball win

Media Release 19 February 2019

Christchurch man celebrates $5.5 million Powerball win

A Christchurch man couldn’t stop smiling after discovering that he had won $5.5 million with Powerball First Division on Saturday.

The regular MyLotto player, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been playing the same numbers for several years after winning a prize the first time he played them.

“I bought a Dip ticket about five years ago and won $90 on it – I figured the numbers were pretty lucky, so decided to adopt them as my lucky numbers and play them every week,” said the winner.

But the winner never imagined just how lucky those numbers would turn out to be when he checked his ticket on the Lotto NZ App on Saturday evening.

“I saw the first couple of numbers circled off on my ticket and thought that was quite a good start – then they just kept coming. By the time the fifth number was circled I was making a fair bit of noise.

“When that sixth number was circled… well, I just couldn’t believe it. And then came the Powerball! When I saw that, I leapt up and started running around the room screaming,” laughed the winner.

After taking a screenshot of his winning ticket, the winner rushed to tell his partner the good news.

“I showed her the picture of my ticket with the prize amount and she just looked at me and said ‘what’s that - $5,500?’ I had to tell her to look again – I guess we aren’t used to looking at a number with so many zeros!”

His mind still buzzing, the winner decided to go out for a walk to help clear his head and pick up something for dinner – with a big grin on his face.

“I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing as I walked down the street, it must’ve been pretty funny to see. The whole thing was just so surreal and life-changing.”

With the winnings now safely in his bank account, the lucky MyLotto player and his partner are looking forward to deciding what to do with the prize.

“We’re not extravagant people and have always been careful with money, so we keep looking at things and thinking ‘nah, that’s too expensive’ – then I catch myself.

“We’re going to be pretty sensible with the winnings – it’s a life-changing prize and I want to make it last. But I know that we’re going to buy a house and a new car, and help out the family. We might splash out on a nice holiday somewhere too,” said the winner.

The winning ticket was purchased on MyLotto for the Lotto draw on Saturday 16 February.

Background

This is the second time Powerball First Division has been won in just over one week, following on from a young couple from West Auckland who won $8 million on Saturday 9 February.

Four lucky players have won big with Powerball First Division so far this year, becoming some of nine Kiwis who have become overnight millionaires with Lotto NZ’s games in 2019.

First Division Powerball wins, 2019

ENDS

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