Kiwis chase $35m Lotto Powerball dream, a million ticket sales forecast

The Live Lotto Draw with the Powerball of $44 Million in Auckland, November 9, 2016. Photo / Michael Bradley, Lotto

Kiwis are chasing the dream of winning a whopping $35 million in tonight's Powerball draw, and Lotto is expecting sales to top well over a million.

This is more than double the ticket sales for smaller jackpots.

Lotto outlets are reporting a surge in demand ahead of tonight's draw, as hopeful punters form queues outside shops.

Barriers were put up at Tauranga's Bayfair Lotto, which has had 18 First Division winners over the years, totalling more than $8.6m in winnings.

Manager Tracy Stent said her shop had been busy for weeks, but yesterday she had been dealing with queues of people.

"We had crowd barriers up, definitely going around the corner but not quite out the door," Stent said.

One of those trying their luck is a rugby-mad Wellingtonian who scored the ultimate try when he won $1 million with Lotto first division in June.

The family man, who did not wish to be named, was celebrating the Blues' win over the British and Irish Lions when he remembered to check his ticket on MyLotto.

"The first thing I saw was the bonus ticket, which I was pretty happy with. Then I looked at my ticket properly and saw the all those zeros - well, I was in complete shock," he said at the time.

"We felt like we were on Cloud 9. Even a couple of months after, we were still pinching ourselves. Still now, I'll randomly text my wife a picture of our winning ticket or us in the winner's room just as a reminder of how lucky we are."

He has played the same lucky numbers that made him a millionaire in tonight's draw.

If he scooped the $35 million, he said he would leave his job and take a trip around the world as well as use the money to help others.

"When we won $1 million we were able to help those closest to us, so winning $35 million would just mean we could help out more people," the man said.

The win had also taken away all the little worries he and his wife had like paying bills.

If tonight's draw is won by a single player it would be the second largest Powerball prize in New Zealand history.

Lotto spokeswoman Emilia Mazur said although it was a bit early to say what ticket sales would be for tonight's draw - as Saturday is typically Lotto's busiest day - well over a million tickets were expected to compete for the giant sum.

"When the jackpot grows we definitely see more players coming into the game," Mazur said.

"With [tonight's] jackpot at $35 million, there is a lot of buzz in-store and online."

If the jackpot isn't struck tonight it will roll over to the following draw on Wednesday.

Mazur said the Powerball threshold for a Must Be Won draw was $50 million.

Kiwis bought more than two million tickets for the country's biggest ever Powerball draw of $44 million, in November last year - about triple the number of tickets typically sold at lower jackpot levels.

It was won by a young couple from the Hibiscus Coast in Auckland who were trying to save for their first home.