Tauranga Powerball Winner’s Big Surprise For Partner
A woman from Tauranga had to take a walk around the block after learning she had won $6.3 million with Powerball First Division this week.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, picked up her soon-to-be winning ticket after enjoying a bit of luck in a previous Lotto draw.
“I’d recently won a couple of hundred on another ticket, which was awesome, so I thought I’d pick up a ticket using the Lotto NZ App this week,” said the woman.
On Thursday morning, the woman was at work when she noticed an email from Lotto NZ saying she had won a prize.
“I thought, ‘another win? Surely someone is having me on!’ – but I opened the app and checked my ticket anyway. Seeing all the numbers and the Powerball number circling off on my ticket caused my brain to go blank, and I began to shake uncontrollably,” said the winner.
“In that moment, I couldn’t think straight at all and got up and took myself for a walk around the block to gather my thoughts. And for the rest of the day, I did my best to keep myself busy and distracted!”
“I kept looking at my ticket that day, and even though I’d picked up a Dip ticket, I noticed that many of the numbers were birthdates of family members. It’s surreal,” she said.
With her partner out of town, the woman faced her next challenge – keeping the exciting news to herself.
“That night, I barely slept, and I haven’t eaten much since finding out. But I did grab a pizza yesterday evening to celebrate - that’s all I ate that day,” laughed the woman.
“My partner doesn’t know the news yet, but he comes home this evening and I can’t wait to tell him – I honestly can’t wait to see his face,” said the winner.
With the prize now safely claimed, the winner is looking forward to paying off the mortgage and setting her family up for the future.
The $6.3 million winning Powerball ticket was sold on MyLotto and was made up of $6 million from Powerball First Division and $333,333 from Lotto First Division.
This is the twentieth Powerball winnerso far this year andcomes just over a week after a Tauranga couple won $10.3 million with Powerball.
Powerball wins in 2021
Date | Prize | Store | Location |
2 January | $2.8 million | The Market Store | Twizel |
$2.8 million | Fresh Choice Te Anau | Te Anau | |
6 January | $4.5 million | Te Aroha Supermarket | Te Aroha |
20 January | $8.5 million | Western Heights Foodmarket | Rotorua |
27 February | $22.5 million | MyLotto | Christchurch |
13 March | $8.25 million | Paper Plus Matamata | Matamata |
20 March | $5.2 million | Hornby Mall Lotto | Christchurch |
24 March | $4.25 million | MyLotto | Northland |
17 April | $14.25 million | MyLotto | Auckland |
8 May | $12.3 million | Hylite Dairy | Auckland |
5 June | $16.5 million | MyLotto | Hamilton |
26 June | $13 million | New World Merrilands | New Plymouth |
24 July | $17.16 million | West City Lotto | Auckland |
31 July | $5.3 million | MyLotto | Ashburton |
21 August | $11.5 million | MyLotto | Auckland |
20 October | $42.2 million | Countdown Pokeno | Pokeno |
30 October | $6.3 million | New World Southmall | Auckland |
3 November | $4.3 million | Kapiti Knitting and Lotto | Paraparaumu |
20 November | $10.3 million | MyLotto | Tauranga |
1 December | $6.3 million | MyLotto | Tauranga |