Tonight's $32 million Powerball jackpot was the third largest in NZ history.
Those tickets were bought at Northcross Pricecutter & Lotto and at Countdown Three Kings in Auckland, Whitcoulls Chartwell in Hamilton, Countdown Levin, Waterloo Lotto and Giftshop in Lower Hutt, and at Redcliffs New World in Christchurch.
Strike tonight had reached a must-win state, and while nobody "struck 4", the money rolles down to Strike 3, giving 189 winners $5932 each.
Tonight's winning numbers were 19, 23, 25, 27, 30, and 40. The bonus ball was 37, and Powerball was number 1 - the third most-frequently drawn Powerball number.
Lotto predicted about 1.5 million tickets were sold for tonight's massive Powerball jackpot after Wednesday's $28 million prize wasn't struck. The prize pot rolled over to tonight's draw, at a whopping $32 million.
Following Wednesday's draw, Lotto's website crashed as a barrage of hopeful Kiwis tried to check their tickets, dreaming of becoming multimillionaires.
Around a million people bought tickets for the $28m Powerball draw, almost 2.5 times the number for a normal draw.
Lotto NZ spokeswoman Kirsten Robinson said the jackpot would undoubtedly transform the winner's life.
"Saturday's $32 million Powerball jackpot is one of the largest in New Zealand history," Robinson said.
"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 $1 million Strike must-be-won draw was also drawn tonight.
Lotto lovers were speculating that Powerball could jackpot to as much as $50m - and be on offer around the same time as the Rugby World Cup final.
Robinson confirmed the maximum pot the jackpot could swell to was $50m.
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.
Key pieces of advice from Lotto NZ to the winner:
• Take your time deciding what to do next – don't make any big decisions like leaving your job or making expensive purchases until you've had a chance to work out what you want to do with your winnings
• Think carefully about who you tell about your big win – once you tell them, you can't un-tell them!
• Get professional financial advice from a registered financial adviser. Financial advisers are experts in helping people manage their money and have lots of advice to help winners manage their unexpected windfall
•$44m Powerball prize - Dairy Flat - November 2016
Lotto records
Largest prize The largest prize won by a single ticket was $44,066,667, in the Powerball draw of November 9 2016. The winning ticket was sold at Dairy Flat Food Mart in Auckland.
Most tickets sold The greatest number of tickets sold for a draw was for the aforementioned Powerball draw of November 9, 2016.
Most winners The record for the most First Division winners in one draw was set on September 11, 1993, when 38 people won First Division. Each winner received $35,937. The main contributing factor was all the winning numbers were between 31 and 38, with the bonus number the only number to fall outside the group - 11.
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.
