A young Christchurch couple are celebrating after winning $20.25 million in Saturday’s Powerball draw, making them Lotto NZ’s thirteenth multi-millionaires of the year.
The couple, who want to remain anonymous, are regular players and usually only buy tickets when the jackpot is over $10 million.
On Sunday morning, the man was about to head to the gym when he saw an email from MyLotto.
He said he knew the message meant they had won at least $1,000, which is the threshold for receiving an email from the service.
“It stopped me in my tracks. I thought, ‘this could be interesting’,” he said.
“I went through to the bedroom to my wife, and we watched the draw together on my phone. Three numbers circled and that’s when my wife said, ‘wait – I’m sure I read that someone in Christchurch won Powerball last night’.”
Before long, all their numbers had matched, including the Powerball.
“I was in complete disbelief, I kept questioning whether it was real,” said the woman.
“I think my first words were ‘I think I’ve just changed our lives,’” her husband joked.
The couple celebrated quietly at home with a glass of bubbles before video-calling their parents to share the news.
“It was great to be able to tell them – they were all in shock,” the woman said. “We didn’t get much sleep on Sunday. I made my husband check our ticket at 3am – just to be sure. I think seeing the money in our account will be a massive shock – it still doesn’t really feel real.”
They plan to take their time before making any major decisions.
“There’s a lot to consider so we’ll spend some time talking and planning,” he said. “We’ll pay off the mortgage, maybe buy a new car, and of course make sure our passports are up to date.”
The winning ticket was sold on MyLotto for the 9 August draw and was made up of $20 million from Powerball First Division and $250,000 from Lotto First Division.
The win comes during a streak of big prizes for Canterbury players this month. Since the start of August, 11 other major wins have been claimed in the region, including a $285,000 Bullseye First Division prize won by a Rolleston man who said he was so loud when he found out that his daughter thought he had hurt himself.
He plans to pay off bills and invest the rest. “It’s going to make a big difference. When they say it’s life-changing… it really is.”
