As Shock Wears Off Powerball Winner Looks Forward To Doing Some Good
“Shock,” is how the Auckland man who held the winning ticket in Saturday night’s Powerball describes seeing he had just won $13 million.
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, usually plays using his own favourite numbers. But when buying his ticket on MyLotto last Saturday morning, he decided on a whim to make it a Triple Dip after seeing he could go in the draw to win a Range Rover.
“I’ve been wanting to buy a new car for a while and so I thought ‘why not, I’ll buy the dip’.”
It was when he was having his Sunday morning breakfast that he decided to check his ticket online.
“I was enjoying my muesli as I logged on to MyLotto and checked the ticket. I heard the winning noise play and I thought, ‘oh great, I might have won a bonus ticket or something.’
“And then a message popped up saying ‘significant winner.’
“I looked, and at first it was just numbers. And then I thought, ‘wow, maybe I’ve won $13,000. And then I saw million!”
That night he couldn’t sleep, torn between wanting to make plans and still not able to believe the win was real.
“But I went online and checked the news, and I saw the winner was from Auckland and the amount was $13 million – it was totally surreal.”
With reality still settling in, he already has some clear priorities.
“I’d still like to get a new car. But I’m really looking forward to helping my family. So it’s going to be wonderful to be able to do some good.
“There are some charities I support so it will be good to do more for them too.
“I have a real sense of being able to have the sort of future I choose. I’m pretty careful with my money. I don’t splash it around.
“I’m really looking forward to getting the whole family together to tell them. This will be just like we usually do, only this time I’ll be the one who is shouting.”
Third on his list after a car and helping his family is working on his house.
“The house I’m living in I’m working on. And I’ll keep doing that. But now I’ll be able to pay someone to help me as well.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
- The draw was on Saturday 30 April 2022 and this is the fifth time Powerball has been struck in 2022.
- The $13 million prize is made up of $12million from Powerball First Division and $1 million from Lotto First Division.
Powerball wins in 2022
Date | Prize | Store | Location | |
1 | 29 January | $21 million | MyLotto | Auckland City |
2 | 12 February | $8.5 million | MyLotto | Wellington |
3 | 26 March | $28.1 million | Meg Star | Auckland |
4 | 9 April | $8.5 million | MyLotto | Auckland |
5 | 30 April | $13 million | MyLotto | Auckland |