4 February 2001
New Lotto Powerball Offers Multi-Million Dollar Prizes
The New Zealand Lotteries Commission is launching Lotto Powerball, a new game designed to produce multi-million dollar
jackpots.
Lotto Powerball will go on sale on Monday 12 February and the first draw will take place as part of the live Lotto draw
on Saturday 17 February. When the game jackpots, the top prizes could climb over several weeks to between $10 million
and $15 million, NZLC chief executive Ariane Burgess said, although jackpots of around $5 million will be more usual.
Lotto and Lotto Strike will be unchanged. To play Lotto Powerball, customers must first buy a Lotto ticket. For an extra
50c a Lotto line, they can choose a Powerball number from the range 1 to 8 or, if they prefer, have ‘Lucky Dip’ numbers
randomly generated for them by the Lotto terminal.
The Lotto draw will take place in the usual way. Lotto winners in any division who have bought a Powerball number are
then eligible to win Powerball. If their number is drawn in the Powerball draw – a separate single-ball draw following
the main Lotto draw – they win both the Lotto and the Powerball prize.
Lotto Powerball Division One winners will take out both big prizes. Unlike Lotto, Lotto Powerball is more likely to be
won by just one person
Lotto Powerball winners in Divisions Two to Five will win approximately three times the current average Lotto prize.
Players can also choose to play Lotto with Lotto Strike and Powerball, giving them three different ways to potentially
win.
If Powerball is not won after ten draws the Division One jackpot will, on the tenth draw, cascade down through the other
Divisions and the game will begin again.
The first Powerball game, on sale on 12 February, will have a million dollar prize. If this is not won in the first
week, Powerball will jackpot with the amount depending on how many New Zealanders support the game by buying Powerball
entries.
Mrs Burgess said the Lotteries Commission had introduced the new game in response to customer demand. “Our market is
becoming increasingly competitive,” she said. “While Lotto is still popular and well-liked, with well over a million
people playing each week, customers have told us they want the additional excitement of a bigger prize.
“They like the fact that a lot of players can win small prizes, but customers have also told us they want a single,
larger prize which is likely to be won by one person. We have designed Lotto Powerball in response.”
“We need to stay competitive, because many community organisations, sporting groups and cultural projects right around
New Zealand rely on our funding. We have developed Powerball to make Lotto more exciting, and help us win back our share
of the discretionary dollar for those organisations.
“We think customers will find Powerball an exciting game to play, and will be happy to support arts, sporting and
community groups while having the chance to win a really big prize”.
Ends.