Lotto talk: A look at the $38m jackpot that hasn't been this high since 2017

Wednesday, 16 October 2019

Lotto plays with the fantasy of winning the jackpot in a very whimsical way, while upturning stereotypes of sole parenting, family and concepts of wealth.

Lotto Powerball jackpot is sitting at a new high, for the first time since 2017.

Two years have passed and another $38m is up for grabs in Wednesday night's Lotto draw.

It's the first time the jackpot has been this high since that 2017 win - when two people from Warkworth and Greytown each took home $19.1m.

If won by a single player, Wednesday night's jackpot would be the second largest prize ever won in New Zealand.

Lotto stores around the country are busy with $38 million up for grabs.

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The biggest prize ever won in our country's history is $44m. It went to a couple from the Hibiscus Coast in November 2016.

THAT BIG 2017 WIN

A Wairarapa family made up of three generations claimed their half of the $38 million prize in Greytown in 2017.

The Lotto ticket that has won the biggest prize in New Zealand history, $44 million, was purchased at Dairy Flat Foodmart in Dairy Flat Auckland.

The anonymous winners purchase a ticket together every draw using numbers that are special to the family.

'As soon as I saw the winning numbers in the paper the next day, I thought they looked very familiar,' the winner said at the time.

'But I couldn't bring myself to check our ticket, which was sitting in the glovebox of my car. I kept eyeing up the car, going outside and opening the door, then shutting it and turning back to the house without so much as looking at the ticket.'

It wasn't until a few days later that the winner finally mustered the courage to check that little yellow piece of paper and confirm what they suspected.

The other anonymous winner from Warkworth said he was 'bursting with happiness' when he found out he'd won half of the $38m prize.

A the time, the man had gone for a swim and then had driven home to tell his partner the good news.

'While I was swimming I had been thinking about how I wanted to tell her, so I wandered in the house and causally asked her 'did you hear someone in Warkworth has won $19 million?'

'When she turned to look at me I said 'and you're looking at him'. She just stared at me in shock, trying to read my face,' he said at the time.

'When she realised I wasn't joking, we had a big hug and a kiss – it was a very special moment.'

WEDNESDAY'S $38 MILLION

Wednesday night's draw is huge and many Kiwis have been lining up at stores to make sure they're in the draw for it.

There were around 1.6 million tickets entered into Saturday's $32m Powerball draw. Lotto expects more than 1.7 million tickets to be in Wednesday's draw.

So far in 2019, 31 Kiwis have won become overnight millionaires, including 12 Kiwis who have won big with Powerball.