When questioned about holding a draw on Christmas Day and the ability to buy tickets online, Marie Winfield, head of communications and corporate social responsibility at Lotto NZ, said they were holding it then as there were draws every Wednesday and Saturday.
"All Lotto retail stores will be closed in accordance with the retail trading restrictions. The last chance to buy a ticket in store is Tuesday 24 December.
"Customers are still able to purchase tickets online on Christmas Day through the MyLotto website or Lotto NZ app. The draw could change the life for one lucky Lotto player at Christmas."
Problem Gambling Foundation's Andree Froude said while she was surprised you could buy a Lotto ticket online on Christmas Day, she said it wasn't the most concerning form of gambling available in New Zealand.
"From our perspective, we're not an anti-gambling organisation we're just very much against people being harmed, of course. Lotto tends not to be a more harmful type of gambling, not in terms of purchasing the tickets because it's not like pokie machines which are highly addictive.
"With something like a Lotto ticket, you have to purchase a ticket and then wait for the result so it's not usually particularly harmful unless somebody's spending more money than they can really afford, that's when it becomes problematic."
Scratchie tickets were more harmful and age restricted, she said.
"We don't really associate Christmas Day with online shopping or buying Lotto tickets, but that's interesting and I didn't know that they did [a draw]."
However, she noted that Christmas was a time when people did feel financial pressure.
"I guess it's just interesting that people would want to buy Lotto tickets on Christmas Day, really."
A spokesperson for the Catholic Church said Christmas Day, along with Easter, was "the great feast day of the Christian calendar".
The church didn't want to comment on Lotto, rather said for them Christmas Day "is a sacred day, and trading restrictions give people the opportunity to gather with those they love and celebrate the significance of what Christmas really means".
It expected more than 8000 people to come to its mass in St Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland on Christmas Eve alone.
