Interview: Rotorua man who won $100k on scratchie

An anonymous Rotorua man has scooped the top $100,000 Texas Hold'em prize. Photo/Supplied.

A Rotorua man is planning a dream South Island road trip after winning a $100,000 Instant Kiwi prize.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, got the Texas Hold'em ticket from Selwyn Heights Four Square last Wednesday, after winning a $5 free ticket.

He couldn't quite believe his eyes when he scratched it at home.

"I thought 'hey that looks good'," he said. "So I put on my glasses for a closer look, and it still said $100,000. Then I asked my girlfriend and she said it was $100,000."

As he got in the car to collect his prize, he tried to write his details on the the back of the ticket.

"It was pretty illegible," he said. "I was shaking that much."

When he got back to the Four Square he caught the eye of a staff member, who was busy serving others.

"I pointed to the ceiling [meaning the big one]," he said. "He just grinned."

The man said he had been buying Lotto and Instant Kiwi tickets for 35 years, but the most he'd previously won was $600 on Lotto. He liked that a percentage of lotteries money went back into the community.

He said he had a "grin that wouldn't stop for three days" and his girlfriend told him he even woke with a grin.

With his winnings, he plans to buy a van and take a few mates on a South Island road trip for a few weeks this summer. His girlfriend may get a trip to Fiji, he laughed.

The rest will go towards his mortgage and savings.

"After working hard for so many years that just tides me over quite well," he said

The $100,000 is the top prize in the Texas Hold'em competition.