Someone will win Big Wednesday eventually

It was a gamble by the Lotteries Commission to entice back dwindling punters. But three months after the launch of the Big Wednesday Lotto draw, the new lottery "jackpot" game is still waiting for its first First Division winner.

NZ Lotteries chief executive Trevor Hall said based on statistics, it was due to go.

"Based on the number of tickets and lines sold, First Division should have been won. It's well outside its average."

Big Wednesday has been going since late October last year but First Division has not been won.

The chances of winning Big Wednesday is one in 16 million as against Saturday where it is one in 3.8 million.

But Dr Andrew Balemi, a statistician at Auckland University, said the chances of the First Division being won any time soon had not increased.

"The system doesn't have a memory of what has happened in the past. It's like a coin. If you flip it five times and it lands on heads each time, it doesn't mean it will land on tails on the sixth flip," he said. "So to say the First Division prize should be won soon, is not right."

Mr Hall said Saturday's Lotto had more players than Wednesday's but that was because it had three draws compared with Big Wednesday's one, making it hard to compare sales figures for the two.

In Big Wednesday, six numbers are drawn from a possible 45. Heads or Tails is also randomly selected. If you match all the numbers and the coin toss, you win First Division.

Two ticket-holders have come close to winning by having matched the six numbers. However they have not had the matching heads or tails.

"We're desperate to give away the prizes. As soon as we find a winner they can have it all," said Mr Hall.

"It's not hard to win, it's just a matter of luck."

He said the draw was just having a "long run" of no one winning, like a case in Italy a few years ago where the Lotto pool reached over €100 million ($180 million).

"It set the whole of Europe on fire. You had people driving down from Switzerland and everywhere just to get a ticket because it wasn't won."

However, in New Zealand if the pool reaches $30 million, or is not struck by 52 weeks, it has to be dispersed, meaning the prizes are shared by the highest division winners.

But Mr Hall is confident it will go before then.

The first Big Wednesday draw started with $2 million, a Porsche and a Range Rover.

It has jackpotted each week because no one has won the top prize, meaning more prizes and cash were added.

This Wednesday's draw will put the ticket-holder in to win a bach worth $500,000, a Mustang 3200 Sports Cruiser, an American Express card with $250,000 on it, $50,000 worth of travel every year for five years, a Range Rover Vogue V8, a Porsche 911 Carrera and $9.5 million cash.