Lotto man hopes big draw goes to Levin

Levin Lucky Lotto store owner Dave Lyons is hoping for a local big winner this weekend.

The owner of Levin Lucky Lotto is hoping to put Levin in the news for the right reasons tomorrow night.

Less than a week ago Dave Lyons woke to the news that the space directly outside his store had been the scene of a boy racer event that saw a crowd of more than 200 people in a violent confrontation with more than 30 police carrying riot shields.

Footage showed people watching the burnout in the middle of State Highway 1 outside his shop and standing on the roof. It grabbed nationwide attention.

“It was tough to watch,” he said.

Lyons, who had owned and operated the store for the last 26 years, said he was pleased to have a different topic of conversation with customers as the week wore on, with attention turning to a must-win Lotto Powerball $50 million draw tomorrow night.

It is the highest-equal jackpot in Lotto history.

“I really hope it goes to Levin. We want to be on the map and in the news for the right reasons,” he said.

Lyons’ store had sold a huge winning ticket before. A lucky customer won $6.5m in December 2020.

It was the 15th first division winning ticket Levin Lucky Lotto has sold over the years, although it was the store’s first Powerball win.

Lyons said while a big jackpot draw meant for a busy weekend, it felt like there weren’t as many ticket sales as there were with two $50m must-win draws in 2020.

Under Lotto NZ game rules, once a jackpot reaches more than $50m it must be won. The rollover came after Wednesday night’s $43m was not struck.

If no single ticket wins Powerball first division tomorrow, the prize pool will roll down to the next highest division with winners, and so on.

The biggest prize pool won by a single ticket was in 2016 when one player won $44m.

In 2021, another single ticket won $41m. Last year one Lotto player who bought their ticket from New World Kāpiti won $37m.