‘Bucking Tradition’ Pays Up for Gisborne Family

‘Bucking Tradition’ Pays Up for Gisborne Family

It’s not uncommon for Lotto players to be superstitious and follow the same ticket-buying routine every week – but for a Powerball-winning Gisborne family, the payout for ‘bucking tradition’ was $6.3 million.

The family, made up of mum, dad and their adult kids, only formed their Lotto syndicate earlier this year with the dream of winning big.

However, the top prize of $6.3 million could have been the one that got away, if the family hadn’t changed their regular ticket-buying pattern.

“I travel a lot for work, so I like to get our ticket from a different local shop wherever I’m travelling to,” said the mum of the family, acting as the syndicate spokesperson.

“But I was so busy working last week, I didn’t have a chance to stop and get our ticket anywhere.”

Instead on this winning occasion, she purchased the family’s ticket from their local Lotto store, Elgin Four Square.

“When we heard that Powerball had been won in our hometown of Gisborne, we rushed online to see the winning numbers.

“My husband was reading out the numbers and I was crossing them off as we went. All our numbers were there. That’s when we went into complete shock! I stuck the ticket to the front of the fridge with a magnet as we figured it would be safe there. It also meant my husband could check it 60 more times!”

The new multi-millionaire family describe themselves as “typical kiwis” and don’t think the money will change them.

“I was laughing to myself, sitting on the plane flying to Wellington to collect our prize – I looked at the lady beside me and thought ‘do you realise you’re sitting beside a multi-millionaire?’ but of course I didn’t say anything,” she laughed.

“We’re pretty laid-back, happy people. We love living in Gisborne and being close to the beach and we have no plans to change that.

“Our next step is to think about what we really want for the future – I think I might retire and then we could take a campervan trip around the country. This win has really given us the opportunity to stop and smell the roses.”

This is the biggest lottery prize ever won in Gisborne and it’s the second Powerball First Division win for the region, after another local family won $3.25 million in 2009.

This is the third time this year that the top Lotto Powerball prize has been won. A family in Hokitia won $15.7 million in January and a family in Blenheim won $10.8 million in March.

www.mylotto.co.nz

ENDS

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