Christchurch man ecstatic with $5.5 million Lotto win

Tuesday, 19 February 2019

A Christchurch man has won $5.5 million in Powerball.

A Christchurch man who won $5.5 million in Lotto's Powerball says it was all down to his lucky numbers.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, checked his ticket on the Lotto NZ app on Saturday evening and discovered he had won the first division prize.

He had played the same numbers for five years after winning a prize the first time he played them.

'I bought a Dip ticket about five years ago and won $90 on it,' he said.

* Invercargill millionaire credits 'lucky cat' for lotto win

* Waimate man treats himself to a meal of KFC after Lotto win**

'I figured the numbers were pretty lucky, so decided to adopt them as my lucky numbers and play them every week.'

But he never imagined just how lucky those numbers would turn out to be when he checked his ticket on the Lotto NZ App on Saturday evening.

'I saw the first couple of numbers circled off on my ticket and thought that was quite a good start – then they just kept coming. By the time the fifth number was circled I was making a fair bit of noise.

'When that sixth number was circled… well, I just couldn't believe it. And then came the Powerball. When I saw that, I leapt up and started running around the room screaming.'

After taking a screenshot of his winning ticket, he rushed to tell his partner the good news.

'I showed her the picture of my ticket with the prize amount and she just looked at me and said 'what's that - $5,500?' I had to tell her to look again – I guess we aren't used to looking at a number with so many zeros.'

His mind still buzzing, the winner went for a walk to help clear his head and pick up something for dinner – with a big grin on his face.

'I couldn't stop smiling and laughing as I walked down the street, it must've been pretty funny to see. The whole thing was just so surreal and life-changing.'

With the winnings now safely in his bank account, the man and his partner are looking forward to deciding what to do with the prize.

'We're not extravagant people and have always been careful with money, so we keep looking at things and thinking 'nah, that's too expensive' – then I catch myself,' he said.

'We're going to be pretty sensible with the winnings – it's a life-changing prize and I want to make it last. But I know that we're going to buy a house and a new car, and help out the family. We might splash out on a nice holiday somewhere too.'