Who would you call if you just won $1 million? For one lucky man in Porirua, a phone call to his mum brought him back to earth after winning $1 million in Lotto First Division.

The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, is an “occasional” player who bought a ticket online on Saturday evening.

“I was watching a movie and completely forgot about the draw. It wasn’t until after the movie finished that I remembered my ticket and logged in to check on my phone,” the man said,

“It was a surreal feeling watching the numbers roll down and match the ones on my ticket one by one. By the time I had four numbers, I started laughing, and when all six matched, I thought, hang on, there’s something wrong with my phone.

“A pop-up said, ‘You’ve won $1,000,000,’ and I couldn’t believe it. I had to count all the zeroes to make sure it wasn’t $1,000!”

The man was shocked and stared at his phone “for a good 20 minutes. I wasn’t screaming or jumping around.”

He then checked his ticket on his computer “to make sure my phone wasn’t playing up.” It wasn’t.

After coming to his senses and filling out his Prize Claim Form, he called his mum to share the wonderful news. “She didn’t believe me initially, so I sent her a screenshot of my ticket. Once she counted all the numbers and realised it was real, she immediately told me not to tell anyone!”

“I started planning right away and was up until 3.30 in the morning writing my priorities down.”

Although the man has big plans, including helping his family, he intends to “keep carrying on at work. I love my job. This win is a nice bonus for me.”

The winning Lotto First Division ticket was sold on MyLotto for the draw on Saturday, 3 June 2023.

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