INDEPENDENT NEWS

Tararua Reclaims Lotto’s Top Town Title

Published: Tue 14 Jan 2014 01:29 PM
Media Release                                                                       10 January 2014
Tararua Reclaims Lotto’s Top Town Title
The numbers are in and Tararua has topped the table as New Zealand’s luckiest area for 2013.
Tararua was also top town in 2011, only briefly relinquishing the title in 2012 when a massive Powerball win in Te Kauwhata put Waikato in the lead.
A Dannevirke couple won $14.1 million with Big Wednesday in April, which helped tip the scales for the Tararua region, meaning on average locals won $867.58 per capita – almost double the second largest area.
But Dannevirke locals are none-the-wiser as to who the Big Wednesday winner is amongst them, especially after they decided not to lake the Lamborghini.
“We decided the Lamborghini wasn’t for us – you can’t put a tow bar on a Lamborghini,” laughed the winner.
Auckland’s Waitemata and Gulf ward had the year’s largest single win of over $33 million with Lotto Powerball in September, which helped it take out second place with a respectable win per head of $475.26.
This was also the largest ever individual win in the history of Powerball, although famously it didn’t stay in the Waitemata and Gulf ward as the winner was a self-proclaimed “Westie” from West Auckland.
The remaining spots in the top five were claimed by Taupo, Hastings and Marlborough. As with previous years, all of the top spots were awarded mainly due to a large prize being won in the region.
In this case these prizes were a Big Wednesday win of $8.6 million in Turangi in December, a $15 million Big Wednesday win in Hastings in January, and a $10.8 million Powerball win in Blenheim in March.
The top ten districts for 2013 were Tararua, Auckland’s Waitemata & Gulf ward, Taupo, Hastings, Marlborough, Buller, Gisborne, Tauranga, Auckland’s Howick ward, and Christchurch City.
The second largest win of 2013 – and the most talked about – was the $22.6 million won by a Christchurch resident in September. The BigWednesday prize almost went unclaimed until Lotto New Zealand tracked down the winner.
There were also nine Lotto First Division winning tickets sold in Christchurch, helping one of New Zealand’s largest cities to edge into the top ten table.
Over $411 million was won in prizes in 2013 with Lotto and Big Wednesday, with a total of 193 First Division prizes won by players around the country.
Lotto New Zealand also increased the amount transferred to the Lottery Grants Board in 2013, distributing a record $201.8 million, which is used to fund arts, sporting and community organisations and projects throughout New Zealand.
In terms of which Lotto store sold the most prizes, Manukau Pak N Save has retained its title for the fourth consecutive year, with over 73,000 winners winning more than $1.2 million in prizes.
ENDS

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