8 August, 2001
A worker at Auckland Airport has just landed a one in ten chance of becoming a Lotto millionaire.
The worker will soon be packing their own bags for a trip to Wellington to take part in the Lotto Birthday Millionaire
Draw on Saturday, 18 August.
The worker bought a Lotto ticket today from the Whitcoulls store at the airport, and received the first of ten
invitations to be part of Lotto’s Birthday Millionaire Draw and a one in ten chance of winning $1 million live on
national television.
Lotteries Commission spokeswoman Marilyn Hooper says the worker was very excited about the chance of becoming the Lotto
Birthday Millionaire.
“We’ve been waiting since Sunday for the first invitation to be issued and now we’ve just nine more invitees to find. We
have no idea when but we do know that all ten invitations will be issued by 7.00pm on Saturday, 11 August,” Mrs Hooper
says.
“If an invitation is issued, the Lotto terminal will play a short piece of “We’re in the money” and then a birthday
invitation will be issued. The selling retailer will then ring the Lotteries Commission and we’ll organise all the
details for a fabulous weekend including getting people to Wellington and taking part in the Lotto Birthday Millionaire
Draw.”
The invitees will be flown to Wellington for the live Lotto draw on Saturday 18 August and one of them will end the
evening $1 million richer.
The half-hour Lotto Birthday Millionaire Draw will follow the standard Lotto and Lotto Powerball draw. Before the draw
begins, all the invitees will select a lucky number between one and 40 and those ten lucky numbers (represented by the
Lotto balls) will be put into the second Lotto draw machine.
The first five lucky numbers will be drawn and those people will win $5000 each. The person whose lucky number matches
the sixth ball drawn will win $20,000. The person whose lucky number matches the seventh ball drawn will win $30,000.
The person whose lucky number matches the eighth ball drawn will win $50,000. The person whose lucky number matches the
ninth ball drawn will win $1 million and will be the Lotto Birthday Millionaire. The person whose lucky number matches
the tenth ball drawn will win $100,000.
“The Commission has a fabulous weekend in Wellington planned for all invitees – all of them will win prizes and one is
guaranteed to be the Lotto Birthday Millionaire. Since Lotto began, we’ve created 177 millionaires but we’ve never
created a millionaire live on national television – until now,” Mrs Hooper says.
Ends