$8.6 Million Prize Won With Lotto Powerball

5 January 2006

$8.6 Million Prize Won With Lotto Powerball Has Been Claimed

The $8.6 million Lotto Powerball jackpot, won on New Year's Eve night by a ticket sold in Tauranga, has been claimed by a Bay of Plenty family who didn't find out until 2nd January that they had won the 'big one', says NZ Lotteries Chief Executive, Trevor Hall.

The family, who wish to remain anonymous, won $8 million from winning Powerball First Division and $601,253 from also winning Lotto First Division. The lucky owner of the ticket, bought at 525 Mags and Cards in Tauranga, said he knew he'd bought his ticket at the store that had sold the big winner, but it wasn't until the Monday after the New Year Eve's Draw that he decided to find out if he had the lucky ticket.

"I was going down town to get some breakfast. I bought a coffee and some food and thought that I'd get a copy of the results and check them against my ticket," he said.

"Well that coffee tasted good, but I never got to the food. My first reaction was holey moley, I've won," he said.

Initially, the lucky winner was unsure exactly what he had won.

"I didn't know about the Powerball at first. Then I checked the results again and realised that I'd won the whole lot," he said.

The winner, who said he felt 'pretty calm' about the huge windfall, was working with his family to figure out the best way of using the multi-million prize.

ENDS

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