Aucklander wins $15.2m Lotto prize

A lucky Aucklander is $15.2 million richer after beating the 1-in-30 million odds last night to win New Zealand's largest ever lottery prize.

The winning ticket - made up of $14.5 million from Powerball and a first division win of $733,068 - was bought at Amigo's Paper Power & Lotto in Mt Roskill.

If previous large Lotto wins are any indication, Auckland will go into a frenzy of speculation over the next few days until the winner finally claims the huge prize.

Previously the largest Lotto Powerball prize ever won with an individual ticket was $14.7 million, won in April last year from a ticket bought in Kawerau.

To this day the winner has not been revealed.

There have also been other big ticket winners this year. In June, a ticket bought in Napier won a $12 million prize, which was at that time the second biggest Powerball prize ever won by a single ticket.

And in February a man who would only identify himself as a rugby sevens fan scooped a cool $6.5 million on a ticket bought in Paraparaumu, near Wellington.

New Zealand Lotteries Commission chief executive Trevor Hall was last night ecstatic at the news.

"It's amazing to think we've just made one of our players a multi-millionaire. Imagine how that must feel," Mr Hall said.

"With a total prize payout of $15,233,068 million, this is the largest Powerball jackpot ever won in New Zealand. The win will be a life-changing experience for whoever has the winning ticket."

However, Mr Hall urged caution.

He said all Lotto players who bought tickets at Amigo's Paper Power & Lotto should carefully check their tickets.

If they had the winning ticket they should put it securely away and tell as few people as possible. They could then take the ticket to their local Lotto outlet or hand-deliver it to Lotto head offices in Wellington.

But there will also be some disappointment in Auckland.

Girish Patel, who owns the Raams Dairy opposite the Lotto shop, said he had bought tickets from the shop ever since he moved into the business "years ago", but didn't buy one yesterday because he had been quite busy.

"I'm really disappointed I didn't buy a ticket. That could have been me. It pays to buy Lotto every week without fail."

Another Mt Roskill man, Falani Moka, said he bought a ticket from Amigo's about 10 minutes before closing time.

"I was going through Teletext and found out the winner bought the ticket from my shop I was really excited," he said.

"But when I checked my ticket I fell on my back. I didn't win. But the heart was pumping for a few moments," he laughed.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY