Lotto draw number 1590 didn't deliver the big Powerball jackpot of about $30 million, but there was some consolation for a Wairoa agency customer with a half-share of the millon-dollar Lotto first division prize on Saturday night.
The $500,000 goes to a ticket sold at the Johansen's Hammer and Hardwareagency on Wairoa's Marine Parade, one of four Lotto agencies in the town. It was part of a pool shared with a ticket bought in Patea, and had been claimed, a Lotto representative said late yesterday.
It was a near-repeat of a Hawke's Bay-Taranaki double at Easter when a ticket bought at Wairoa's Mobil service station agency split a million-dollar Lotto first division prize with a ticket sold in Waitara.
On Saturday, the winning numbers were 15, 19, 22, 23, 30, and 36. The bonus number was 31 and the Powerball number was 9.
Other big winners were a Dunedin Strike Four player who won $515,850, but while there were no claims to the big Powerball pot, two second second division winners claimed $31,630 each.
It included the Lotto second division prize of $23,781 which was claimed by 21 tickets, none of which was sold in Hawke's Bay.
The Powerball first division has not been struck in the 56 draws since April 16, although a terminating jackpot of $40 million, the biggest lottery prize ever in New Zealand, was shared at $13.3 million each by three second division ticketholders in a draw on July 9.
It means the Powerball first division in draw 1591 on Wednesday night will now be about $34 million, with a must-win draw to follow at the weekend if no ticket has the correct numbers for the major prize midweek.
"If a single player is lucky enough to win big on Wednesday, they'll be taking home the second largest prize ever won in New Zealand," said Lotto NZ corporate communications general manager Emilia Mazur. "It's life-changing."
