Second time lucky for Lotto winner

Twelve years after winning $250,000 in Lotto's first division, a Wairarapa man has picked up another $1.4 million. File photo / NZ Herald

A Wairarapa man has won Lotto's first division for the second time in his life.

The Martinborough local is $1,416,666 richer after winning a half share of Saturday's Lotto Powerball First Division prize. The windfall comes about 12 years after he won a quarter of a million dollars with Lotto First Division in another town.

The happy individual said he's grown wise with age, and will do things differently this time round.

"I was a bit younger back then, and had a lot of fun with it, but this time I'm going to be sensible with the money, as I'm planning on using this for my retirement fund," he said.

"I'm going to see the bank manager tomorrow, will leave it in the bank for three months, and think about what I'm going to do with it in the meantime."

The second time winner shared the prize with a friend. The pair watched the draw together, and his friend had quite a different reaction to the win he said.

"We saw the Lotto draw live on TV and recognised our numbers, but weren't so sure about the Powerball. We checked it on Teletext, and it started to seem real, so I went to sleep - but he couldn't get to sleep until the ticket was verified the next day," said the double luck winner.

A second winning ticket was sold in Martinborough by the local lotto retailer. Pain and Kershaw not only sold the winning Lotto Powerball ticket, but also sold the Winning Wheel ticket.

NZ Lotteries' chief executive Todd McLeay said this hasn't happened before.

"It's such a statistically unlikely occurrence that a winning Powerball ticket would be sold in the same store as a Winning Wheel serial numbered ticket that we're all quite astounded by the coincidence."

The ticket winner has claimed their prize, and could win up to $1 million in October when they spin the wheel on the live show.

Pain and Kershaw store owner David Kershaw said he knows the winners, but wouldn't reveal their names.

"There's been a lot of talk in the store and around the town about who has won, and although I know, I'm keeping it schtum to keep their anonymity as requested."

He said when his staff called to fill him in on the double lotto win on Sunday, he thought someone had made a mistake.

The Lotto Powerball winners have asked to be kept anonymous, and wish to keep a low profile.

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