The word on the street is that Patea is the luckiest town around after Lotto First Division was won four times from the same store, in the same draw.

“How exciting for Patea – it sounds like it’s the talk of the town,” says Marie Winfield, Head of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility at Lotto NZ.

In Saturday’s live Lotto draw, the $1 million First Division prize was split seven ways and four of the winning lines were sold at the Four Square in Patea.

The South Taranaki town is a-buzz, with residents wondering how it’s possible for their local store to have sold four First Division winning tickets for the same draw.

“We’re pretty sure it’s one very lucky winner who’s played the same numbers on multiple lines of their ticket – what amazing luck, they’ll be taking home over half of the $1 million prize. We can’t wait to hear their story and find out how they picked their lucky numbers,” says Marie.

“We know players have their own quirks in the way that they play – playing the same numbers on multiple lines is one we hear a lot.”

Back in 2018, this way of playing proved lucky for a Christchurch couple who scored themselves a life-changing $5 million with Powerball.

The man had been playing his lucky number for two years, they were special to his family – birthdates, old addresses and the like. To ‘cover his bases’ he played his lucky numbers ten times, each with a different Powerball number.

“I always thought I’d just hate for my six numbers to come up only to find that I hadn’t picked the right Powerball, so I don’t take the risk and play a different Powerball number on each line,” said the man.

The man watched the live Lotto draw that night and saw the first five of his numbers come up – too shocked to take note of the sixth number, it was a long 45-minute wait for the official results to be published on MyLotto.

“I felt like a cat on tin roof, I didn’t know what to do with myself. It was the longest 45 minutes of my life,” laughed the man.

When it dawned on the couple that they had won Powerball, they called their children over to celebrate.

“As soon as they came through the door, we showed them the ticket and everyone erupted into celebration. It was such a special moment,” said the man.

Approximately one third of players choose their own numbers, the other two thirds opting for a dip – though the odds remain the same.

“Each line of Lotto has an equal chance of winning Lotto First Division – whether you’re playing Granny and Grandad’s birthdates or picking up a random dip, the odds remain 1 in 3.8 million,” says Marie.

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