Lotto spreads the joy in North

This month marks 25 years of Lotto, the weekly gamble which has awarded more than $7 billion in prizes since 40 coloured balls first entered "the barrel" on August 1, 1987, including more than $86 million in first division prizes in Northland.

The first draw was hosted by Doug Harvey and Ann Wilson and, although the faces of the hosts and their outfits have changed considerably over the years, Kiwis' love of the game hasn't.

There have been 134 First Division Lotto, Strike and Powerball winners in Northland in the past 25 years, bringing home a grand total of $86,072,627.

Although no Northland stores have managed to make it into the top 15 First Division ticket selling stores, they sure come close.

Dargaville's Mags N More is the luckiest Northland store, with 16 First Division tickets sold for a total prize pool of $9,281,587. Owner Julie Morresey says her store has earned itself a rightful reputation in the area. "We are a lucky shop." She said it was hard to put her finger on what made her store so lucky, "it's just lucky".

Ms Morresey's store is followed by Whangarei's Onerahi Bookshop and Lotto with 12 winners, Kerikeri's Civic Video & Lotto with 11, Paper Plus Kaitaia with 11 and the now closed Keyman in Whangarei with 10.

However, the fifth largest Lotto wins of all time came from Northland - in May 2006 a lucky punter won $17,992,975 from Kaeo Four Square. Owner Hitendle Patel said he remembered clearly the near $18 million win.

He was at home watching TV with family when he was called with the news that the winning ticket was from his store.

Mr Patel was "quite thrilled and happy" when he heard the news, although he never did meet the winner. He said being a small store in a rural area, it was a big deal at the time.

The winner was later revealed as Auckland man Geoffrey Henderson, who bought the ticket on a whim when he was picking up some milk and bread while visiting his elderly mother.

For every $1 from combined Lotto sales, 56c goes to prizes, 20c to the NZ Lottery Grants Board, 6c to operating costs, 7c to retailer's commissions and 11c to the tax man.

Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain said on July 17 that $200 million in Lotteries profits from games such as Lotto, Instant Kiwi and Daily Keno would be returned to the community in 2012/2013.