Instant Kiwi’s newest millionaire

Media Release 20 February 2019

Instant Kiwi’s newest millionaire: Invercargill’s $1 million man

A spur of the moment purchase turned out to be the decision of a lifetime for an Invercargill man who has become Instant Kiwi’s newest millionaire with the $15 Cash Spectacular ticket.

The lucky Southland winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, picked up his winning Cash Spectacular Instant Kiwi on a whim when buying his regular Lotto ticket on Friday.

“I’ve bought the Cash Spectacular scratchie a few times before and have had a bit of luck with them - $50 and $40 wins here and there. So when I saw them at the Lotto counter I thought I might as well pick up a couple for my wife and I,” said the man.

Unaware of just how lucky his tickets were, the man left the Instant Kiwi tickets on a kitchen shelf for a couple of days before he got around to scratching them.

“I forgot about them actually! My wife and I were out for a drive at the weekend when we started talking about what we’d do if we ever won the big one – after much discussion, we’d settled on buying a lifestyle block,” laughed the man.

Upon arriving home, the man decided it was as good a time as any to scratch the Instant Kiwi tickets he had left sitting in his kitchen.

“I picked up the two tickets and put them behind my back, then told my wife to pick one,” said the winner.

“When I scratched the ticket and saw $1,000,000 staring back at me, I couldn’t believe it. I stared at the ticket for ages, then finally turned to my wife and said, ‘have a look at this one – and put your glasses on because I’m not sure of what I’m seeing.’”

After spending half an hour checking and re-checking the winning ticket, the lucky couple jumped in the car and drove to their local Lotto shop to check the ticket.

“It’s not a long drive, but I was jumping out of my skin the whole way to the Lotto shop. I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous,” said the man.

“When the lady at the Lotto shop scanned the ticket and said ‘Oh wow, look at that’ – that’s when I knew I really had scratched something very, very lucky.”

With the winnings now in his bank account, what is Invercargill’s newest millionaire planning to do with his prize?

“Just earlier that day we’d talked about buying a lifestyle block if we won – and now we can! The wife and I are also going to get new cars, and we want to help the family out a bit too,” the winner said.

The winner describes the whole experience as “mind-blowing” and “life-changing”.

“Basically it’s sorted us out for retirement, which is pretty incredible. I feel like a very, very lucky man!”

The winning $15 Cash Spectacular Instant Kiwi ticket was sold at Ascot Four Square in Invercargill.

Background

The $1 million top prize offered on the Cash Spectacular Instant Kiwi ticket is the largest top prize ever up for grabs on a scratchie.

This winner is the second Instant Kiwi player to become an instant millionaire with Cash Spectacular. One $1 million top prize remains available to be won with the game.

Players can purchase a $15 Cash Spectacular Instant Kiwi ticket in-store at any Lotto shop.

ENDS

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