Napier man eyes earlier than expected retirement after winning $1m Lotto prize

A Napier family are $1 million richer after winning 1st Division in Saturday's Lotto draw.

A Napier man says his $1 million Lotto win means he can think about retiring a little earlier than originally thought.

The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought a Triple Dip ticket for last Saturday’s draw from Andrew Spence Pharmacy in Onekawa.

The man said he bought a Triple Dip for each Saturday Lotto draw.

On Sunday, he went to get his ticket checked at Bay Plaza Pharmacy in Hastings, but he didn’t realise there was a prize won in the area the night before.

After scanning his ticket, the ticket check read major prize, which he assumed could’ve been $20,000.

“Which would have been amazing,” the man said.

“When they told me it was $1m, I could not believe it – this is life-changing.”

He struggled to sleep on Sunday and was up with his family until the early hours talking about the prize.

“This win means we can pay off our mortgage, and I can think about retiring a little earlier than I thought I could – I feel very lucky.”

The man said he and his family haven’t celebrated the win yet, but plan to in the future.