Once upon a time, a middle-aged man had to leave his job because of poor health, only to be faced with the massive cost of a triple bypass operation.
But his luck took a dramatic turn when he walked into his local Lotto shop, bought his usual Instant Kiwi and scratched
his way to $100,000.
It sounds like a fairytale but it's not.
It's just one of countless amazing stories Mike Savage can rattle off about memorable wins at his store Bayfair Lotto, which last year sold the sixth-highest number of winning tickets in the country.
"He came in afterward and showed me his scar and he went off on a holiday to Australia," Mr Savage said. "He's a really friendly guy and still comes in.
"He says once luck's with you, it stays with you."
Mr Savage also recalled the young couple who couldn't afford a house deposit until a winning scratchie delivered them $75,000 and enough to get them a home in Mt Maunganui's Ranch Rd.
Or then there was the story of the woman who bought five $1 scratchies to go with a birthday card for her son in Auckland, who is now $10,000 richer.
"She came in to tell me she was just waiting for a bit of it to come back to her," he said with a chuckle.
"It just goes on and on, and there's always a story.
"A lot of them don't sit down and watch Lotto on TV and they'll just come in and check their tickets. That's when they can get a real surprise.
"Sometimes they'll start screaming or look around for their partner and shout 'I've won, I've won'. It's pretty emotional stuff."
But he said it was something he would never get tired of.
Mr Savage has been running the Bayfair shopping mall shop since early 2008, after selling up his convenience store in Wairoa.
The biggest winning ticket he has sold was a whopping $1.3 million ticket. Last year he sold 14 winning first division tickets and 140 second division winners.
Altogether in 2010, the shop was responsible for 53,691 winning tickets, totalling $885,087, but Mr Savage said it was more than just luck that made Bayfair Lotto the Bay's biggest seller of winning tickets.
"A lot of it comes down to sales and we're usually one of the top stores for the number of sales.
"We're selling winners with every draw and that's what we're all about. We're just here to help people win."
Pick a winner at lucky lotto shop
Once upon a time, a middle-aged man had to leave his job because of poor health, only to be faced with the massive cost of a triple bypass operation.
But his luck took a dramatic turn when he walked into his local Lotto shop, bought his usual Instant Kiwi and scratched
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