$1 million Lotto win a dream come true for Bay of Plenty winner

A Bay of Plenty man won $1 million in Lotto's Christmas Promotion. Photo/file

A Bay of Plenty man will be starting the New Year with a bang after snapping up the top prize of $1 million in Lotto's Christmas promotion.

The regular Lotto player, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he had recently dreamed he would win some money. But he never thought he would be starting 2018 with $1 million in the bank.

"I had a restless night's sleep not too long ago and was dreaming that I had won some money, but whoever would have thought I had ever won a million dollars," the winner said.

The man usually buys his tickets through MyLotto, and he was checking his emails recently when he noticed something different.

"The email said 'congratulations'. At first, I really wasn't sure how to react or what to think," he said.

"I thought it must be a scam, so I quickly called Lotto to see if it was true."

After a few minutes of talking to the helpdesk operator, the million-dollar win was confirmed and the man realised that his dream had actually become a reality.

"I was so overwhelmed when I realised that I had won and how much I had won," the winner said.

"My wife had to pour me a whisky to calm the nerves and stop the shaking," he laughed.

The thrill of this brand new millionaire's Lotto win had not quite worn off yet and he was still pinching himself to try and believe his good luck.

"I keep checking my bank account to see that it is true," he laughed.

The MyLotto player won the top prize of $1 million in the 2017 Lotto Christmas Triple Dip promotion.