‘Must be Won’ Increased to $35 Million Top Prize

Media Release
23 June 2009

‘Must be Won’ Increased to $35 Million Top Prize

NZ Lotteries has today increased Big Wednesday’s First Division to $35 million in cash and prizes due to exceptional sales this week, says NZ Lotteries’ Chief Executive, Todd McLeay.

“Our retailers are reporting huge interest from existing and new Big Wednesday players in this draw, which means the total prize pool has increased for the ‘must be won’ draw,” says Mr McLeay.

“This 'must be won' draw was triggered due to Big Wednesday's jackpotting cash and prizes reaching the threshold of $30 million, as set out in NZ Lotteries’ game rules. However, the jackpot can go higher than $30 million, as it depends on the total sales for the draw.

The $35 million ‘Must Be Won’ draw means that Big Wednesday’s First Division will definitely be won by one or more lucky players. If no-one wins First Division, then the First Division prize pool is added to that of the next highest prize division where there are winners. If there is more than one Second Division winner, they will share the prizes equally.

If there are no First or Second Division winners then Big Wednesday Third Division winners will share the prize. Last week, there were 465 winners of Big Wednesday Third Division.

The Big Wednesday luxury prize line-up can be taken as a cash prize, which will enable the prize to be split equally if there is more than one big winner.

“We have had a rise in queries from people wanting to form syndicates, so there will be lots of workplaces and families with a big interest in tomorrow night’s draw," Mr McLeay said.

The small North Island of Thames is luckiest for Big Wednesday, with three First Division prizes having been sold in the town, including the largest Big Wednesday First Division prize to date, a $12.8 million prize won by a Thames player in February 2006.

Big Wednesday Background

* 29 million Big Wednesday tickets were sold for the 17 June draw, compared to 500,000 in an average week.

* Odds for Big Wednesday First Division – 1 in 16,290,120 per line played. This gives odds of 1 in 2,715,020 for a 6-line Lucky Dip ticket.

* To win Big Wednesday First Division, the winning line must have all six winning Big Wednesday numbers and the correct Head or Tail.

* Big Wednesday First Division has been won 32 times. Of those First Division winners, 19 have covered Heads and Tails and won Second Division as well.

* The largest NZ Lotteries' prize won to date is a $19 million Powerball prize won by a New Plymouth player in April 2008.

* After twenty one weeks, Big Wednesday’s First Division still has not been struck, making it the longest jackpot run in NZ Lotteries’ history.

ENDS

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