Otorohanga named New Zealand's luckiest district to buy a Lotto ticket

Lotto Powerball tickets. Photo / File

Kiwi punters may wish to buy their next Lotto ticket in Otorohanga, after the Waikato district was named the country's "luckiest" area for 2016.

On average Otorohanga District residents won about $1526 per capita, almost $600 more than the second most prosperous area, Auckland's Rodney Ward.

A ticket sold in the small coastal town of Kawhia in July helped Otorohanga reach top spot when it proved to be a $13.3m Powerball winner.

A Te Awamutu man also helped boost the statistics, when he won big with a ticket from the Oparau Roadhouse.

"Everyone's been so supportive - the truth is that I really am one of the luckiest people in New Zealand," he said.

Otorohanga was the first North Island region to win back the top spot since 2013, after Westland proved to be the most fruitful in 2015 and Kaikoura in 2014.

Rodney's second place came on the back of one couple winning $44m with Powerball.

"I was at work on smoko break and decided to check our ticket. I saw that I had three numbers in a row, so I quickly checked that I had the Powerball number and then went back and checked the rest of the numbers," the winner said.

"As soon as I saw I had all the numbers on one line I just yelled 'holy s***!' - my boss thought I'd chopped my arm off with a saw."

An Ashburton couple, who used their $22.2m Powerball win to help pay for their dream wedding, sent the mid-Canterbury town into third spot.

More than $503m in prizes were won last year with Lotto, including 282 First Division prizes.

New Zealand's biggest winning districts for 2016:

1. Otorohanga District (per capita $1526.56)
2. Rodney Ward ($948.67)
3. Ashburton District ($762.11)
4. Ruapehu District ($647.32)
5. Kaikoura District ($356.56)
6. Dunedin City ($282.76)
7. Timaru District ($229.13)
8. Waitemata and Gulf Ward ($189.43)
9. Wairoa District ($183.45)
10. Opotiki District ($181.99)