Tina of Taupo was one of a syndicate of 10 who won a $30 million Lotto Powerball jackpot. Their win put the town on the map as the fourth luckiest region in 2017. Photo / File
A $19.1 million Lotto Powerball win has put Wairarapa on the map as the luckiest Lotto region in the country for 2017.
The region has an estimated population of 9528 and includes towns Martinborough, Greytown and Featherston.
It beat Central Otago, which came in second, followed by Thames-Coromandel District, Taupo
and Rodney in the top five.
However, the Wairarapa family didn't know they'd won the Powerball until a few days after the November draw.
"I couldn't bring myself to check our ticket, which was sitting in the glovebox of my car," the winner said.
"I kept eyeing the car, going outside and opening the door … then shutting it and turning back to the house without so much as looking at the ticket."
It took a few days for the winner to finally muster the courage to check his Lotto ticket, which would prove to be very lucky for his family and would help Wairarapa nab the 'luckiest' region title for 2017.
On average, South Wairarapa locals won around $2119 per capita, which is almost $1000 more than the second luckiest region.
The Central Otago District claimed second place, in large part thanks to an $18.2m win in February from a ticket bought on MyLotto. The winners were a young couple who were pregnant with their first child.
"We're most excited about the life we can now provide for our baby and the opportunities this creates," the winner said at the time.
In third place was the Thames-Coromandel District after a Thames couple took home a massive $27.3m Powerball prize in May 2017, the fifth-largest Powerball prize won in Lotto New Zealand history.
The couple purchased their winning ticket at Martina Four Square and Lotto in Thames.
"Just about every week I say to the man in the store, 'if you're not in it, you can't win it'," the winner said.
"Although, I couldn't have been more surprised when we did actually win it!"
On average, Thames-Coromandel District locals won around $1159 per capita.
Meanwhile, in September 2017, a Taupo syndicate took home a massive $30.2m prize with Powerball, which was the largest jackpot won by a single ticket last year. This resulted in the Taupo District being the fourth 'luckiest' region in 2017, with Taupo locals taking home on average around $998 per capita.
Despite knowing that they had the winning ticket, it took the lucky Lotto syndicate five days to claim their prize. So just where did they hide the $30m winning ticket?
"I hid it in a Christmas card and tucked it at the back of a photo frame on the wall. Surely no one would think to look there," said the syndicate leader at the time.
Rounding out the top 10 'luckiest' spots are Rodney, Tauranga, Franklin, Timaru, Waitomo and Gisborne.
Each of these regions enjoyed a First Division win with either Lotto or Powerball, helping cement their spot on this year's list.
Over $546m in prizes were won in 2017 with Lotto, Powerball and Strike, including a total of 254 First Division prizes won by players around the country.
Lotto New Zealand also transferred more than $272m to the NZ Lottery Grants Board, which is used to fund arts, sporting and community organisations and projects throughout New Zealand.
As for which Lotto store was the 'luckiest' for 2017, Wainoni Pak'n Save in Christchurch has claimed this year's coveted title having sold one Powerball First Division ticket along with three Lotto First Division winning tickets, coming to a total of $5.3m in First Division prizes won at the store.
Lotto's Luckiest Top 10 Regions
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