Lotto: $42m jackpot on Wednesday is NZ's second largest ever

Reporter·NZ Herald·

17 Oct, 2021 03:06 AM2 mins to read

$42 million is one of the biggest ever lottery prizes on offer. Photo / NZME

The $42 million Lotto Powerball jackpot for Wednesday will be New Zealand's second-largest prize ever won, if struck.

Lotto New Zealand says the largest prize won in the country was a $44 million Powerball prize won by a young couple from the Hibiscus Coast in November 2016

"Wednesday's $42 million Powerball jackpot is one of the largest prizes ever on offer in New Zealand, it's one for the Lotto NZ history books," said senior corporate communications manager Kirsten Robinson.

Some 1.5 million tickets were purchased for Saturday's $35 million Powerball draw, which did not see a winner.

This is roughly double the number of tickets Lotto usually sells for an average draw.

Saturday's biggest win was the $1 million First Division pool shared by four winners, who won $250,000 each.

The Powerball jackpot has been on a roll since it was last struck on August 21.

The $11.5 million win turned a young Auckland woman into an overnight millionaire just as the city entered alert level 4 lockdown.

The woman had told the Herald she didn't realise she had won even after seeing an email from Lotto the morning after the draw, and initially thought her prize was just $11,500.

"It was unbelievable. My sister and I just sat in the car screaming – it was such a cool moment," she said, not wanting to be named.

Lotto says it is expecting high demand for Wednesday's draw.

"Typically, most customers buy their ticket after work on a Wednesday, which means 5pm to 7.30pm will be our busiest time both in-store and online," said Robinson.

During last year's $50 million must-be-won draw in August, more than 2.5 million tickets were sold.

While Auckland is under alert level 3, the draws are computer generated under Audit New Zealand Scrutiny. Live draws are unable to take place because they do not safely meet Covid-19 health guidelines.