Lotto: $24.25 million won by ‘family man’

The winner is a regular player who bought a Triple Dip while on a trip to Wellington.

A “family man” is “over the moon” after becoming Aotearoa’s latest multi-millionaire following a $24.25 million Lotto win.

The lucky winner, who wished to remain anonymous, is a regular player who bought a Triple Dip while on a trip to Wellington.

“I bought the ticket on Wednesday and didn’t get around to checking it until Monday,” the man said.

The winning Powerball First Division ticket was sold at Woolworth Wainuiomata in Lower Hutt for the draw on October 7.

Despite not watching the draw or knowing the winning numbers, the man said he had a “sneaky suspicion” that his ticket was the jackpot-winning ticket.

“I’d heard from family that the winner had bought the ticket from the same shop I had, so I couldn’t wait to check it.

“I hurriedly went to the store to check, and when the store person confirmed I was the winner, I yelled, ‘Oh my gosh!’

“I was jumping up and down. I didn’t know what to do with my hands and didn’t trust myself not to start screaming and shouting,” the man said.

There were “lots of tears” when the man surprised his family with the happy news.

“They couldn’t believe it. We’re all so excited.”

The prize is made up of $24m from Powerball First Division and $250,000 from Lotto First Division.

He described a pragmatic approach to spending the winnings and said his priority was making sure his family was taken care of.

“I’m still trying to get my head around it, but I plan to take it one step at a time. I’m definitely not going to rush out and buy 10 new cars or anything.”

At the top of the list of priorities was paying off the family’s debts and making some good investments, he said.

“My family and I will sit down and have a chat about it next week.

“We hope to make some wise decisions about the things we need and the things we want – and the needs will come first.”