Lotto win: Are you the game’s latest millionaire?

The $23 million Lotto Powerball jackpot has not been struck.

But one lucky punter has won $1m by taking out First Division after they bought their ticket at Pak’nSave Pukekohe.

Then came a Strike Four winner from the Thames-Coromandel area, $500,000 better off after buying their ticket online.

The Powerball jackpots to $26m for Wednesday night’s draw.

The jackpot, which has been growing over the past month, was the largest that has been on offer to players in 2024.

Tonight’s numbers are: 2, 21, 30, 10, 5 and 6. The Bonus Ball is 36, and the Power Ball is 3.

The biggest prize paid out last weekend was just $166,667; a sum six players each received after sharing the First Division $1m prize.

There have been several big wins this year, including one Auckland couple who scored $12.2m.

They vowed to spend their win on “sensible stuff”.

“It wasn’t until we got the call from Lotto NZ that the reality started to sink in,” the woman said.

“We’re still thinking about what we’d like to do with the money, but we’re pretty sensible people.”

“Sensible, mundane stuff” topped their wish list, the woman said, such as investing in a home for the future.

“It’s amazing to know we have so many options now,” she said.

“We can’t wait to support our family and spend time on the things that really matter.”

In the middle of 2023, a Christchurch couple who won one of the largest Lotto draws in recent history kept their ticket hidden in the sock drawer for days while they worked out what they would do with their winnings.

The couple, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the win and needed time to process it before coming forward.

The mammoth $33.5m win was eventually claimed after the numbers were announced on June 28.

The woman said she had been busy doing chores on the night of the draw and so it wasn’t until quite late that she decided to check her ticket.

“I had been busy doing a few things, and then I thought I may as well check my ticket before I went to bed,” she said.

There has been no shortage of big Lotto Powerball winners over the past year. Photo / Alex Burton

“I looked the numbers up online and started checking each line of the ticket.

“The winning line was right at the bottom, and the numbers just sort of jumped out at me – all of them,” she said.

“I couldn’t breathe at first – I was almost hyperventilating.”

The woman said her husband had already gone to bed and she had to wake him up to confirm the prize.

“My husband had already gone to bed so I woke him up and said, ‘Can you please check this for me? These numbers are dancing on the paper. Is it actually real?’”

After her husband confirmed the jackpot was real, the couple said it was hard to go back to sleep afterwards.

The couple said they were in no rush to claim their prize the next day – or even the next week.

“We wanted to keep things normal while we thought about our next steps.”

But with such a life-changing event, sleep was hard to come by, they said.

Areas devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle have received windfalls after a fundraising Lotto draw last year. Photo / Neil Reid

“I’d keep things cool during the day but then come home and cry – tears of happiness, of course, but it was also a lot to take in,” the woman said.

The couple said they had kept their yellow ticket hidden in a sock drawer.

It was “nerve-wracking” to know they had a small piece of paper in the draw that was worth more than $33m, they said.

Previously, a lucky player won $15.5m in a “must be won” draw, from which half the value of ticket sales was diverted back into initiatives in regions devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle more than a year ago.

The winning ticket was purchased by a MyLotto player from Canterbury.

“We’d like to thank New Zealanders for getting behind this special draw for cyclone relief. The support has been incredible and will make a real difference to people and communities impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle,” Lotto NZ chief executive Chris Lyman said at the time.

“It has been a privilege for Lotto NZ to host this special draw, and our thoughts remain with those affected by the cyclone.”

A $10.3 million winning Lotto Powerball ticket last year was purchased at New World Wairoa. Photo / Neil Reid

The draw eventually raised $11.7m to go towards damaged communities.

Then in August, a family from Wairoa impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle celebrated a $10.3m Lotto Powerball win.

It had been a year filled with “challenges”, so the family was “thankful for this prize and looking forward to the future”.

Some of the winnings would be used to help their whānau, with Wairoa mayor Craig Little urging the lucky winner to try to keep their windfall quiet.

Other mammoth wins from throughout the past 12 months include $37.1m won in Paraparaumu, $33.5m won in Christchurch, $24.25m struck in Lower Hutt and $23.5m won in Auckland.