“It’s amazing that Powerball rolled down to Second Division and was shared between seven players – it’s fantastic to see more of our lucky players get to experience what it’s like to win,” said Lotto NZ chief executive Jason Delamore.
“This is going to be life-changing, and not only for the lucky winner themselves, as we know winning big has a huge ripple effect.
“Most of our big winners share their prize with others, including family, friends, communities, and charities.
“This means that the win makes a huge difference to more than just one person.”
Queues ahead of draw
Yesterday, Lotto punters were urged to take screenshots of digital tickets ahead of the anticipated scramble to check results after the must-win $50 million draw.
Queues spilled onto the streets and stretched inside malls at Lotto stores around the country as an unprecedented 2 million tickets were expected to be bought by Kiwis hoping to win the biggest jackpot of the year.
A banner on the MyLotto website advised: “High demand after the must be won draw could delay you checking your ticket.
“If you are eager to check your numbers, please take a screenshot of your ticket.”
Last night’s draw took place at 8pm. The last tickets were sold at 7.30pm.
People went into virtual queues if they bought their tickets on MyLotto in the hour before the draw closed.
The MyLotto site will be closed for longer than usual, not opening until 10am today. It should allow enough time for the processing of the “extraordinarily high volume” of tickets, Lotto NZ said.
Powerball ticket holders are being asked to take a screenshot of their due to the expected high demand on the MyLotto website. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Expected high demand
For Wednesday night, 52 per cent of tickets were purchased online and 48 per cent in-store. More than half the tickets were bought on the day.
“We have done a huge amount of preparation and MyLotto handled the volumes very well on Wednesday night so we are confident going into the draw,” Lotto NZ’s head of corporate communications Lucy Fullerton said.
“Our use of a virtual queue to manage traffic has been very important in ensuring a good experience once people log in to MyLotto, and so we will be using this again on Saturday night.”
Fullerton said as of last night 1.3 million tickets had already been sold and Lotto was on track to sell more than 2 million by the time sales closed this evening.
With just hours to go before the big draw a shopkeeper in Auckland’s Ponsonby shopping strip said they had been busy but not as busy as the last $50 million draw.
”Last year, I bought maybe two or three, but this time, I want to try.”
Another man buying a ticket for the draw had already hatched a spending plan that involved living off the interest.
”When I get the return from the money, I would give 50 per cent to charity and use the other 50 per cent for the happiness of my family and friends.”
Lotto NZ has also said it will not reveal the locations or stores where the winning ticket or tickets were sold until this morning. These details are usually released on a Saturday night with the results.
Lotto NZ’s communication about the draw itself would go ahead normally, including revealing the number of winning tickets and the amount won by each.
“We would like to thank customers in advance for their patience as we manage what we expect to be exceptional interest in the results of this huge draw,” Fullerton said.
In a Must Be Won draw, if no one wins Powerball First Division (that means getting all seven numbers correct) the entire jackpot rolls down to the next Powerball division where there are winners.
If there is more than one winner in a Powerball prize division, the prize is split equally between them.
