Auckland woman a millionaire after checking old Lotto ticket

An Auckland woman who checked an old Lotto ticket on a whim and purchased a new one with her $30 winnings will be glad she did - she's now a millionaire.

The Birkenhead woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, was doing her weekly grocery shop last week when she decided to try her luck.

"I saw the Lotto counter was free, so I decided to go check a ticket from a previous draw," she said.

"I heard the winning music play and was so excited when the Lotto lady told me I'd won $30.

" I was feeling lucky, so decided to use the winnings to buy a ticket for that night's draw — after all, you just never know."

She watched the live draw on Saturday night but did not realise she had won - again - until the next day.

"As soon as I woke up, my husband told me that New World Birkenhead had sold a $1 million ticket. It turns out he'd had trouble sleeping so had gone on Facebook, where he saw the news on our local community Facebook page," explained the winner.

"I honestly have no idea how he managed to go back to sleep after reading that – he didn't even check the ticket.

"I would've jumped straight out of bed to check the ticket if it had been me, " laughed the winner.

After grabbing the lucky yellow ticket from her phone case, the woman promptly scanned her ticket through the Lotto NZ App.

"When I saw the words 'major prize' appear on the screen, I could barely believe it," said the winner.

"My husband pulled up the winning numbers so we could double check.

"As soon as I found the first number on my ticket, all the rest jumped out at us – there really was no missing it.

"We couldn't believe it, we just stood there like stunned mullets."

After claiming their prize in-store, the couple decided to celebrate their windfall with a bottle of champagne.

"I couldn't stop smiling all day - we kept on having these little 'wahoo' moments," said the winner.

With the winnings now safely in their bank account, the couple plan to pay off their mortgage and go a trip.

"This win has taken the pressure off and we're excited to see what the future holds," she explained.

The winning ticket was sold at New World Birkenhead in Auckland for the Lotto draw on Saturday, October 6.