Lotto outlets brace for rush ahead of $32 million Powerball jackpot

Lotto outlets are bracing for a surge in ticket sales ahead of a monster $32 million Powerball jackpot on Saturday night.

If won by a single player, tomorrow's prize would be the third largest in Lotto history.

The money jackpotted after Wednesday night's $28m Powerball prize wasn't struck.

Lotto's website crashed after the draw as scores of Kiwis tried to check their tickets, hoping they were multimillionaires.

About 1 million tickets were sold for Wednesday's draw but Lotto expects about 1.5 million to be sold ahead of Saturday's Powerball jackpot.

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Lotto NZ spokeswoman Kirsten Robinson is expecting huge interest and urged customers to get in early to avoid a last-minute rush.

"We know that the last couple of hours before a draw are the busiest time for sales both in-store and online," she said.

"With $32m up for grabs with Powerball on Saturday night, Lotto NZ recommends that players get their ticket early to miss the last-minute queues."

Many Lotto players were left in the lurch on Wednesday after the MyLotto website imploded due to the high demand.

Around a million people bought tickets for the $28m Powerball draw, almost 2.5 times the number for a normal draw.

Robinson said the massive demand from customers checking their tickets caused MyLotto to cut out.

"We're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused."

Hundreds of customers took to Twitter and Facebook to vent their frustrations towards Lotto.

"Can't even check results and already told no one's won. Thanks Lotto for killing the moment," one player said.

"What's up with the app, man. How annoying hearing the results before I can even check myself," another said.

Tomorrow's jackpot would transform the winner's life, Robinson said.

"Saturday's $32 million Powerball jackpot is one of the largest in New Zealand history.

"If a single player is lucky enough to win big on Saturday, they'll be taking home the third largest Powerball prize ever won in New Zealand – it's absolutely life-changing."

A $1m Strike Must Be Won draw would also be running on the same night.

This year, 31 Kiwis became overnight millionaires after winning Lotto games, including 12 who have won big with Powerball.

In total, 906 Kiwis have become overnight millionaires with Lotto since it was established in 1987.

Meanwhile, in order of frequency, the luckiest number Lotto numbers have been 1, 7, 19, 22, 18 and 13.

Lotto facts and figures

• 75 per cent of this year's Powerball winners were male - however, it was a young female who bagged the largest prize this year to date.

• 42 per cent of this year's winners were aged 34 or younger when they won big.

• 33 per cent of Powerball winners won by playing their own lucky numbers.

• 58 per cent of this year's Powerball winners kept working after their win, which followed the usual trend.