Auckland Man Left ‘giggling And Fist-pumping’ After $21 Million Powerball Win

It was a long weekend to remember for an Auckland man who discovered he had won $21 million with Powerball First Division –making him the first Kiwi to win big with Powerball so far this year.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, picked up his regular Lotto ticket on MyLotto just before the draw closed on Saturday night, not knowing how life-changing that decision would become.

“It was late on Sunday evening when I finally got around to checking my ticket and it didn’t take long to realise I was onto something,” said the man.

“Watching all the numbers being circled on one line of my ticket felt like a bit of an out-of-body experience. I sat there staring at my phone asking myself, ‘am I really seeing this?’” said the man.

“But when it finished circling the numbers and up popped a message saying I had won a major prize, I definitely said a couple of colourful words!” laughed the man.

With the win fresh on his mind, the man decided to call Lotto NZ the next day to confirm he really had won the big one.

“Since then, I’ve been walking around giggling to myself and fist pumping quietly – it’s absolutely surreal,” said the man.

“The first person I told was my Mum. When I showed her the winning amount on my phone, she said, ‘you’ve won $21?’ – I said, ‘no Mum, there are a few extra zeroes there – take another look!’

As for what he plans to do with his winnings, the man has a few ideas up his sleeve.

“I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t stop thinking about my win, so I ended up doing some online window shopping. I have a bit of a wish-list of things to treat myself to now – I’m sure there will be a few things winging their way to me down the track,” laughed the man.

“But seriously, I’m so excited to be able to set myself up for the future and take care of my Mum. I’m looking forward to sharing some of the win with my close friends as well. I feel so incredibly lucky.”

The $21 million winning Powerball ticket was sold on MyLotto and was made up of $20 million from Powerball First Division and $1 million from Lotto First Division.

This is the first Powerball winof 2022 andcomes just over a month after an Auckland woman won $17.2 million with Powerball.

Powerball wins in 2022

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