Hawke’s Bay couple ‘shaking like leaves’ after $8.3m Lotto win

A Hawke's Bay couple were left "shaking like leaves" after their $8.3 million Lotto win. Photo / Michael Bradley

A Hawke’s Bay couple were left “shaking like leaves” and struggled to sleep after winning $8.3 million in Powerball last Saturday.

The winning Powerball First Division ticket was sold via MyLotto on Saturday, February 10 draw, with the discovery of the win leaving the couple “gobsmacked”.

The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, are regular players who bought a ticket earlier in the week.

“We fell asleep during the draw but woke up later and decided to check our ticket online,” the woman said.

Seeing four numbers line up, the woman thought it meant she had won a Bonus ticket.

“Then, I had five numbers, then six, and finally, the Powerball! I couldn’t believe it – I was shaking like a leaf. I showed my husband and said, ‘I think we just won $8m!’”

Her husband said he was “just as gobsmacked. It was mind-boggling.”

The couple said they managed to calm down enough to fill out their prize claim form but still struggled to sleep that night.

“We couldn’t help but think about all the things we wanted to do,” the woman said.

A couple of days after the win, the couple said they had come to terms with their massive win and were starting to form a plan.

“We’re not going to squander it. We’re pretty down-to-earth people – we’ll buy some nice things but save and invest the rest for our retirement,” the woman said.

“This is life-changing for us – in a good way!”

The couple are the second people to win Powerball First Division this year.